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Biotech / Medical : EntreMed (ENMD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: marc ultra who wrote (1815)	3/8/1999 9:40:00 PM
From: marc ultra	Respond to of 2135

Post got messed up From Bloomberg: Folkman on angiogenesis and CAD Blocking Angiogenesis May Slow Artery Disease, Researcher Says New Orleans, March 8 (Bloomberg) -- Drugs aimed at blocking angiogenesis -- the revved-up formation of blood vessels which fuels tumor growth -- might one day offer a way to slow the advance of the fatty plaques that clog the arteries of many heart patients, according to a leading researcher. An early mouse study indicated experimental anti-cancer compounds, in development at companies including EntreMed Inc. and TAP Holdings Inc., may also constrict the blood supply needed for plaques to grow beyond a certain thickness. ''The finding is remarkable . . . plaque growth may be angiogenesis dependent,'' said Judah Folkman, the Harvard scientist credited with spearheading the field of angiogenesis. ''It is possible to imagine angiogenic therapies for the heart.'' Folkman was the keynote speaker during the official opening session of the American College of Cardiology conference, being held this week in New Orleans. Tiny Rockville, Maryland-based EntreMed Inc. is developing one of the compounds used in the mouse study, endostatin, as well as a sister chemical compound called angiostatin, both for use in fighting cancer. The first-ever human trials of the compounds are expected to begin this year. TAP, a joint venture between Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd. and Abbott Laboratories is developing the second anti- angiogenesis compound in the study. The compound, called TNP-470, is being tested on cancer in people. Study in Folkman's Lab The mouse study, done in Folkman's laboratory, was first presented at a medical meeting in November by Karen Moulten, the Harvard researcher who led the study. Moulten's results are to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Circulation. The mice were engineered to be susceptible to high levels of cholesterol and were fed a high-fat diet before the study began. After 16 weeks, the mice who received the TNP-470 had 70 percent less growth of their plaques than a group that received an inert saline solution. The mice who received Endostatin had 85 less plaque growth. While it will be years before researchers could know whether the compounds have the same effects in humans, the findings indicate angiogenesis could be a potent target for therapy, either to reduce the progression of plaque growth or to stabilize plaque, the research team said. ''These results were very encouraging,'' he said. Folkman's speech today comes as the strategy of harnessing angiogenesis -- through laser surgery, and gene or protein therapy -- is receiving an unprecedented level of attention from the cardiology community. Companies including Genentech Inc., Human Genome Sciences Inc., Collateral Therapeutics Inc. and Germany's Schering AG are working on angiogenesis-based gene therapies and compounds designed to stimulate vessel growth in the heart and leg tissue of patients who suffer from inadequate blood flow which can't be fixed with surgery or existing drugs. DNA Injections Research highlighted at a preview session of the ACC included research from Tuft's University researcher Jeffrey Isner, who is achieving dramatic success in a small number of patients by injecting ''naked'' DNA material into their hearts to ease their inoperable, debilitating chest pains. And yesterday, researchers presented positive data on new ways to use heart lasers, made by companies including CardioGenesis Corp. and Eclipse Surgical Technologies Inc., which are thought to ease pain by triggering the body's own angiogenesis response. Provoking angiogenesis inside the heart may provide new ways for blood to reach the starved tissue in damaged heart muscle. Today, Folkman said that the anti-angiogenesis compounds might play a complementary role in a future treatment strategy for heart patients, by acting to prevent the worsening of blood vessel disease which can eventually starve the heart of its blood supply. Anti-angiogenesis compounds might also play a role in preventing the renarrowing of blood vessels after they are cleared with an artery opening procedure called angioplasty, Folkman said. So-called restenosis is thought to be due in part to the over rapid growth of the same kinds of blood cells that are involved in angiogenesis. ''No one knows how this will work out,'' Folkman said. Still, he urged doctors to pursue ways of testing the possible use of angiogenesis in treating heart disease. ''Science doesn't go in any direction by itself,'' he said. 16:16:59 03/08/1999