Immunotherapy Weekly articles from August 2000

Immunotherapy Weekly archives from August 2000

Passively-Delivered Antibodies are Protective.(against Mycobacterium tuberculosis)
August 9, 2000... 2000 AUG 9 - (NewsRx.com) -- Intranasal delivery of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) protected mice against challenge with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, reported researchers in the United Kingdom and Cuba. "There is an increased awareness...

Antibodies for Anticardiolipin More Prevalent in Some Hepatitis C Patients.
August 9, 2000... 2000 AUG 9 - (NewsRx.com) -- Anticardiolipin antibodies show up at a higher rate in some patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection, but researchers do not know why, according to a report in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases....

Prophylactic Immunization May Actually Stimulate Tumor Growth.(cancer vaccines)
August 9, 2000... 2000 AUG 9 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in the United States reported startling results from experiments with prophylactic cancer vaccines. "One major objective of tumor immunologists is to prevent cancer development in individuals...

Renal Complications Prevented by Monoclonal Antibody Treatment.(diabetic nephropathy)
August 9, 2000... 2000 AUG 9 - (NewsRx.com) -- Using a murine model, researchers have found that renal complications caused by diabetes can be prevented by the long-term administration of a neutralizing monoclonal antibody (MAb). "Emerging evidence...

DNA Expression Vectors Target Gag Antigen to the Secretory Pathway.
August 9, 2000... 2000 AUG 9 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in the United States report enhancing primary and secondary cellular immune responses against HIV-1 Gag by using DNA expression vectors that target Gag antigen to the secretory pathway. "In...

Technology Overcomes Safety Hurdle for Testing Adenovirus-Based Gene Therapy Drugs.
August 9, 2000... 2000 AUG 9 - (NewsRx.com) -- Scientists reported new technology that could have far reaching implications affecting potential safety issues associated with human clinical trials of intravenously (IV) administered adenovirus-based drugs,...

Immune-Based Ampligen Therapy Viewed as Next Hope for HIV Antiretroviral Resistance.
August 9, 2000... 2000 AUG 9 - (NewsRx.com) -- The close of the 13th World AIDS Conference has led to an increased emphasis in the pursuit of effective methods of treating drug-resistant HIV. "The 13th World AIDS Conference has left us with definitive...

Novel Therapy Uses Ribozymes and Stem Cells.(HIV infection treatment)
August 9, 2000... 2000 AUG 9 - (NewsRx.com) -- A novel therapy for the treatment of HIV infection is being developed that incorporates ribozymes and stem cells. Seeking to genetically alter hematopoietic stem cells with anti-HIV catalytic RNAs...

Positive Clinical Data Presented for HspE7 Heat Shock Protein Fusion.(for treatment of human papillomavirus-related anal dysplasia)
August 9, 2000... 2000 AUG 9 - (NewsRx.com) -- StressGen Biotechnologies (SSB:TSE) announced that preliminary Phase II data presented demonstrate activity of HspE7, an immunotherapeutic in the treatment of human papillomavirus-related anal dysplasia. ...

Emerging Field Will Lead to Individualized Drug Therapy and Result in Healthcare Savings.(pharmacogenetics)
August 9, 2000... 2000 AUG 9 - (NewsRx.com) -- Why do some patients respond to some drugs and not to others? Which patients will have minimal or even no toxic effects from a given drug? Why do some individuals require higher or lower doses for optimum...

Oral Vaccine Trial Begins.(for Antex Biologics' Helivax vaccine for Helicobacter infections)
August 9, 2000... 2000 AUG 9 - (NewsRx.com) -- Antex Biologics (ATXB), Gaithersburg, Maryland, announced the start of a Phase Ib/II clinical trial of Antex's Helivax, an orally administered vaccine for Helicobacter pylori. According to the U.S. Centers...

Monoclonal Antibody Has Potential in Reducing Heart Attack Damage.
August 9, 2000... 2000 AUG 9 - (NewsRx.com) -- Gliatech Inc. (GLIA), Cleveland, Ohio, announced that company scientists are presenting data at the 18th International Complement Workshop in Snowbird, Utah, indicating that an anti-complement monoclonal...

Report Says Natural-Source Vitamin E Supplements Twice as Potent as Synthetic Forms.
August 9, 2000... 2000 AUG 9 - (NewsRx.com) -- Consumers are likely to give the labels on their vitamin E bottles a closer look following a new report stating that natural-source vitamin E supplements are twice as potent as synthetic ones. "Look for...

Pneumonia Vaccine Ineffective in HIV-1 Infected Ugandan Adults.
August 9, 2000... 2000 AUG 9 - (NewsRx.com) -- A 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine evaluated in HIV-1 Ugandan adults was reported by researchers in the United Kingdom to be practically useless. "Infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae is a...

Reaction of Lymphoma Cells to Anti-CD20 Monoclonal Antibody Evaluated.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in Italy found that CD55 and CD59 cells are important regulators of complement-mediated cytotoxicity following treatment of B lymphoma cells with the monoclonal antibody (MAb) rituximab. "The...

Scientists Decipher Central Protein Complex in the Human Immune System.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- A key building block of the human immune system was identified up to the atomic detail using the method of X-ray crystallography by scientists of the Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried,...

Zadaxin Prevents Formation of Lung Tumors in NIH Study.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- SciClone Pharmaceuticals (SCLN) announced the publication of results of a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) preclinical study indicating that its Zadaxin immunotherapy may decrease formation of lung...

New Guidelines Announced for Hypoallergenic Infant Formulas.(from the American Academy of Pediatrics)
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Breastmilk is the optimal source of nutrition for infants through the first year of life. However, for the rare case of an infant who develops symptoms of food allergy to breastmilk or to formula, the...

Disease Found to Compromise Immune System, Contradicting Earlier Belief.(rheumatoid arthritis)
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Patients with rheumatoid arthritis have compromised immune systems, according to a Mayo Clinic study. The findings revise earlier beliefs that the immune systems were overactive in patients with...

Rabbit's Milk Used to Treat Infantile Pompe's Disease.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Four babies have been successfully treated for a fatal metabolic disease with the help of rabbit's milk, according to a research letter published in the July 29, 2000, issue of The Lancet. Pompe's disease...

Multikine Stimulates Effective Immune Response in Clinical Trials.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Cel-Sci Corp. (CVM) announced the presentation of updated findings from a clinical study of Cel-Sci's anticancer immunotherapy drug, Multikine, demonstrating tumor elimination, tumor reduction and activation...

Certain Chemokines May Be Natural Antivirals.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- A researcher in Italy has suggested that certain chemokines may be useful as antiviral agents against HIV infection. "The unexpected collision between the fields of chemokines and HIV has opened new...

HIV Coinfection Does Not Affect Interferon Treatment for Hepatitis C.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Clinical data from a French multicenter trial show that HIV coinfection does not adversely affect antiviral therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. "The aim of this prospective study was to compare...

Combined Immunogene Therapy Induces Antitumor Response.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Immunogene therapy combining interleukin (IL-2) and IL-12 resulted in effective anti-tumor responses in murine models. "Although IL-2 and IL-12 are the most crucial cytokines used to induce potent...

Beta LT Clinical Trials: Early Termination Due to Positive Results.(from LifeTime Pharmaceuticals)
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- LifeTime Pharmaceuticals (LifeTime), College Park, Maryland, announced early closure of both initial Phase I/II trials of Beta LT at McGill University, Jewish General Hospital (JGH), Montreal, Canada, as they...

People with HIV Needed for Interleukin-2 Study.(Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota)
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, Minnesota, is searching for people with HIV who are willing to try an experimental treatment using interleukin-2. Interleukin-2 is a substance that has been...

Adjuvants Help Induce Mucosal Antibody Immune Responses.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- The combination of interleukin (IL)-12 and cholera toxin subunit B (CTB) help stimulate mucosal antibody responses to a HIV-1 gp120 subunit vaccine, a new study has found. "Envelope glycoprotein gp120 is...

First Trial Announced Using Xcellerate in Patients with Advanced Cancer.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Xcyte Therapies, Inc., Seattle, Washington, announced that it has initiated its first company-sponsored clinical study after receiving permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this...

Cytokine Gene Therapy Evaluated in Murine Model.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in Italy suggested that cytokine gene therapy may be a novel therapeutic approach for demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). "Pro-inflammatory cytokines play a crucial...

T-Cell Vaccination Depletes Specific Myelin-Reactive T Cells.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in the United States found that secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) patients vaccinated with bovine myelin-reactive irradiated T cells had depleted populations of the immune cells...

Immune Response Can be Blocked.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Research funded by ML Laboratories PLC, London, United Kingdom, published in the August 4, 2000, issue of Nature Immunology, has demonstrated for the first time that an immune response in a host responsible...

Hepatitis C Infection and Simultaneous Polymyositis Difficult to Treat.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Polymyositis, a painful inflammation of the muscles that control voluntary movement, sometimes occurs in patients with hepatitis C virus infection. Such a concurrent assault on the body's defenses can be...

Study Will Look at Affects of Long-Term Antiviral Therapy in Hepatitis C Patients.
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- The University of Michigan Health System is one of a select group of clinical centers launching a new study for patients with chronic hepatitis C. The study - the longest and largest ever for hepatitis C -...

Lysine Auxotroph of M. tuberculosis H37Rv Induces Immunity in Mice.(Mycobacterium tuberculosis)
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- A lysine auxotroph of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv used as a vaccine was able to induce cell-mediated immunity in a murine model. "A mutant strain of M. tuberculosis H37Rv (mc23026) in which the lysA...

LEAPS Technology Extends Coverage with New Patent.(Ligand Epitope Antigen Presentation System)
August 16, 2000... 2000 AUG 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Cel-Sci Corp. (CVM), Vienna, Virginia, announced the issuance of a key U.S. patent (number 6,096,315) expanding the coverage on Cel-Sci's Ligand Epitope Antigen Presentation System (L.E.A.P.S.) vaccine...

Photoimmunotherapy Targets Hepatic Metastases with Antibody.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in the United States and Italy have developed a photoimmunotherapy protocol that targets hepatic metastases using a monoclonal antibody (MAb). "Photoimmunotherapy (using a MAb-targeted...

Immunomodulatory Therapy Helps Manage Opportunistic Infections in HIV Patients.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Immunomodulatory agents help manage viral infections in HIV infected patients, according to a new study. "HIV causes disease by infecting lymphocytes and progressively destroying critical regulatory and...

Cyclophosphamide Enhances Anti-Tumor Effect of Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Cyclophosphamide enhanced the anti-tumor effect of adoptively transferred cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in a murine model, researchers in The Netherlands reported. "The tumor suppressor protein p53 is...

Inhibiting Neutrophil Elastase Enzyme May Be Harmful, Not Helpful.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Scientists have discovered how an immune system enzyme kills invading bacteria - a finding that may give pause to researchers investigating the possibility of blocking this enzyme to treat cystic fibrosis....

No Additional Benefit from Oral Insulin for People with Type 1 Disease.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Research published in the August 12, 2000, issue of The Lancet shows that oral insulin does not slow the destruction of insulin-secreting cells in people with type 1 diabetes when taken in addition to...

Assay Distinguishes HLA-A*0201 Positive Individuals.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in Germany have developed a polymerase chain reaction-based assay that identifies HLA-A*0201-positive persons for inclusion in immunotherapy studies. "HLA-A*0201 is an important restriction...

Global Warming Could Bring More Hay Fever, Research Suggests.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Global warming could bring more hay fever, according to U.S. government research that shows ragweed produces significantly more pollen as carbon dioxide increases. The ubiquitous weed makes nearly twice...

Tiny Cells in Gut Direct Fight Against Infection.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Tiny specialized cells in the lining of the small intestine have been found to combat disease-causing bacteria as they enter the gut, a team led by a University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine...

Radioimmunotherapy Protocol Uses Iodine-131 Tositumomab.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in the United Kingdom evaluated Bexxar (Iodine-131 tositumomab) radioimmunotherapy in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. "Between July 1998 and November 1999, 40 patients, median age...

Dendritic Cell Therapy Reaches Phase I Clinical Trial Stage.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Dendritic cells (DCs) for the treatment of relapsed metastatic breast cancer have reached the Phase I clinical trial stage, researchers from the United Kingdom announced. "Human MUC-1 is a high molecular...

FDA Approves Pulmicort Respules.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Pulmicort Respules (budesonide inhalation suspension) for asthma in children between the ages of one to eight. Pulmicort Respules is the first...

New HLA-A*0201-Restricted T-Cell Epitope Identified.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers in Germany have identified a new HLA-A*0201-restricted T-cell epitope derived from the tyrosinase-related protein 2 (TRP2) melanoma antigen. "For the development of peptide-based...

Research Agreement Announced to Evaluate Dendritic-Cell-Based Therapies.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Select Therapeutics Inc. (SLPU), Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced that it has entered into a research agreement with the University of Arizona Cancer Center (ACC) for evaluation of therapeutic vaccines for...

U.S. Government Considers Research Finance Rules.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- A new era of biotechnology economics that promises some scientists great wealth may cause conflicts of interest that affect patient safety and undermine medical research, experts say. At a U.S. National...

Clinical Trial Underway Studying New Anti-Angiogenesis/Immune-Stimulating Drug.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Participants are being sought in 15 cities across the U.S. to take part in a clinical trial with a new cancer drug that can be self-administered as nose drops and has a favorable safety profile. A total...

U.S. Patent Granted for T-Cell Receptor Peptides Vaccine.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- The Immune Response Corp. (IMNR), Carlsbad, California, announced that it has received U.S. Patent Number 6,090,387 covering methods and compositions relating to its immune-based technology for the prevention...

Monoclonal Antibody Plus BCG Safely Administered to Patients with Previous TB.
August 30, 2000... 2000 AUG 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Patients who have previously had tuberculosis or who are purified protein derivative (PPD) positive can be safely administered low doses of bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) as an adjuvant to BEC2 immunotherapy,...