Immunotherapy Weekly articles from January 2000

Immunotherapy Weekly archives from January 2000

Advances Reported in Antibody Treatment for Skin Disorders and Inflammation.(research on usage of MDX-44 monoclonal antibody)
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Medarex, Inc. announced the publication of a new study concerning MDX-44, a monoclonal antibody product targeting immune cells responsible for certain skin disorders and inflammatory conditions. In this study,...

CpG Oligodeoxynucleotide Adjuvants Modulate Allergic Response in Mouse Model.
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Type I allergy immunotherapy could get a boost from CpG oligodeoxynucleotide adjuvants. B. Jahnschmid and colleagues, University of Vienna, Austria, examined CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODNs) as adjuvants...

Compound Decreases Need for Steroids and Reduces Asthma Symptoms.(anti-IgE investigational monoclonal antibody rhuMab-E25)
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Study results published in the December 27, 1999, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine demonstrate that patients with moderate-to-severe allergic asthma can reduce their symptoms while also decreasing, or...

MAGE Gene May Be Immunotherapy Target for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- The MAGE-1 gene is expressed with high frequency in hepatocelluar cancer (HCC). Researchers in China indicate the this gene, and perhaps other MAGE genes, may be potential targets for HCC immunotherapy. In...

Anti-Inflammatory Drug Reduces Cardiac and Brain Damage in Clinical Trials.(Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. tests 5G1.1-SC)
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced that the results from its Phase I/II and Phase IIa cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) studies were published in the American Heart Association's Journal, Circulation. The...

Nitric Oxide Plays Minimal Role in Treatment.
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Inducible nitric-oxide synthase (iNOS) and nitric oxide (NO) play a minimal role in the treatment of lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCMV)-induced, T-cell-mediated, protective immunity and immunopathology, according...

Results Show Ampligen Overcomes Viral Resistance.
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. announced that recent independent laboratory test results show potential advantages of its product Ampligen(R) when virologic failure occurs clinically with the presently available...

Fusion Protein Developed with Improved Selectivity for Cancer Therapy.(Immunomedics Inc.)
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Immunomedics, Inc., announced that it has succeeded in making a genetically engineered bispecific antibody fusion protein for use in a two-step drug delivery for cancer therapy. The new bispecific fusion...

Cancer Vaccine Targets Mutant Genes.(pancreatic cancer)
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- A new vaccination strategy which may help patients with pancreatic cancer targets genetic mutations that cause healthy cells to become cancerous. Clinical trials of the vaccine have been conducted by a research...

Liposome Technology Shows Promise in Dendritic Cell Therapy for Cancer.
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Data on laboratory maturation of dendritic cells using the liposomal encapsulated MUC1 produced by Biomira, Inc., were presented at the American Association of Blood Banks Meeting held in San Francisco, California,...

Monoclonal Antibody Appears Effective in Patients with Advanced B-Cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.("CAMPATH")
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- A humanized monoclonal antibody under clinical investigation shows promise for high-risk patients with advanced B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) resistant to current CLL therapies, according to findings of...

Radioactive Epratuzumab Shows Promising Results in Aggressive Non-Hodkgin's Lymphoma.
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Immunomedics, Inc., announced that initial promising results with its radioactive version of Epratuzumab, its second product for the therapy of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), were presented at the 41st annual...

Diarrhea Bacteria Could Cure Rheumatoid Arthritis.
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Bacteria which cause diarrhea could provide a cure for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to immunologists from the University of Bristol. Dr. Neil Williams described the research at the British Society for...

Collaboration To Develop Monoclonal Antibody for Melanoma, Other Cancers.(between Viragen Scotland Ltd. and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center)
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Viragen Scotland Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Viragen Europe Ltd., and the research arm of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City have agreed to collaborate in developing a human monoclonal...

Phase III Clinical Trial Initiated.(by Abgenix Inc.)
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Abgenix, Inc., is initiating a Phase III clinical trial comparing its antibody, ABX-CBL, with standard therapy for patients with steroid-resistant graft-versus-host disease (srGVHD), a serious, life-threatening...

Collaboration Aims To Develop Human Monoclonal Antibody-Based Cancer Therapies.(Cambridge Antibody Technology announces joint venture with Searle)
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) announced a multidisciplinary strategic alliance with Searle, the pharmaceutical business of Monsanto Company, for the development of fully human monoclonal antibody-based...

Class Action Settlement Related to Immune Globulin Therapy Use Announced.(Baxter Healthcare Corp. to settle class action)
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Plaintiffs' class counsel and Baxter Healthcare Corporation announced that they have agreed upon a proposed settlement of a class action that will benefit individuals who have contracted or been exposed to...

AstraZeneca Discontinues Development of TCAR Monoclonal Antibody.(ATM-027)
January 16, 2000... 2000 JAN 16 - (NewsRx.com) -- Avant Immunotherapeutics announced the results of the Phase II clinical development data for the T-Cell Antigen Receptor (TCAR) monoclonal antibody (ATM-027) being developed by AstraZeneca for the treatment of...

Costimulatory Integrin Ligands Stimulate Anti-Tumor Immunity.
January 23, 2000... 2000 JAN 23 - (NewsRx.com) The expression of large numbers of different costimulatory integrin ligands (CILs) provides dendritic cells (DC) with the ability to induce primary antitumor immune responses, report researchers from New Zealand. ...

Residual Viral Replication Complicates Long-Term Prognosis.(of HIV infection)
January 23, 2000... 2000 JAN 23 - (NewsRx.com) Antigen-induced stimulation of the immune system generates heterogeneity in CD4(+) T-cell division rates which helps explain patterns seen in viral load fluctuations during highly active antiretroviral therapy...

Component-Resolved Diagnosis Uses Recombinant Allergens.
January 23, 2000... 2000 JAN 23 - (NewsRx.com) -- Component-resolved diagnosis (CRD) of type I allergy can be standardized and regulated by the use of recombinant allergens, suggests a study from Austria. "The diagnosis of Type I allergy is based on the...

Genetically Engineered Allergens Provoke Fewer Reactions.
January 23, 2000... 2000 JAN 23 - (NewsRx.com) -- Genetically engineered birch-pollen allergens should provoke fewer anaphylactic reactions in patients receiving allergy immunotherapy, suggests a study from Sweden. "More than 95 percent of birch...

Scientists Develop Method of Synthesizing Antibodies.
January 23, 2000... 2000 JAN 23 - (NewsRx.com) -- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researchers have discovered a method that may lead to the long-hoped-for efficient and inexpensive production of synthetic antibody substitutes for use in...

Cytoreductive Surgery Impacts Immunotherapy Response.
January 23, 2000... 2000 JAN 23 - (NewsRx.com) -- The timing of cytoreductive surgery impacts the effectiveness of immunotherapy in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, suggests recent research from Japan. "The prognosis of metastatic renal...

Recombinant Protein May Hold Key to HCV Protection.(heptatitis C virus)
January 23, 2000... 2000 JAN 23 - (NewsRx.com) -- Research in recombinant protein technology may one day lead to an effective vaccine against hepatitis C virus, report researchers from Italy. There is currently no vaccine for hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the...

Anti-Human Immunoglobulin E Antibodies May Have Allergy Treatment Applications.
January 23, 2000... 2000 JAN 23 - (NewsRx.com) -- Scientists with Peptide Therapeutics, Ltd., Cambridge, UK, have identified a mouse monoclonal antibody whose functional profile indicates it may have potential in allergy treatments. In a series of...

Gene-Directed Antibody Therapy Uses Bispecific Single-Chain Diabodies.
January 23, 2000... 2000 JAN 23 - (NewsRx.com) -- Bispecific single-chain diabodies secreted from mammalian producer cells effectively recruit effector mechanisms to cancer cells, report researchers from Germany. "The expression of therapeutic proteins in vivo...

Molecular Genetic Strategies Target Cancer.
January 23, 2000... 2000 JAN 23 - (NewsRx.com) -- Research into genetic strategies for tumor eradication are exploring the regulation of tumor and molecular immunology, report researchers from the United States. Gary J. Nable presented updated data regarding...

IL-12 and IL-18 Augment T-Cell Activation In Vitro.(interleukins 12 and 18)
January 23, 2000... 2000 JAN 23 - (NewsRx.com) -- Gene transfer of colorectal cancer cells with B7.1 and 4-1-BB-ligand causes T-cell proliferation which can be augmented by the combined addition of interleukin-12 and IL-18, reported researchers from Germany. ...

Process Protects Therapeutic Antibodies In Vivo.(microencapsulation)
January 23, 2000... 2000 JAN 23 - (NewsRx.com) -- A novel encapsulation process improves the degree of protection afforded to implants in vivo, researchers from Germany and Austria reported. "The use of microencapsulation as a tool to shield allogenic or...

Patent Issued Covering Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases with Heat Shock Proteins.
January 23, 2000... 2000 JAN 23 - (NewsRx.com) -- Antigenics, L.L.C. announced the issuance of a patent with broad claims covering methods of treatment of autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, with heat shock proteins. The...

Blood Test Identifies Patients Whose Antibodies Bind Well to Lupus Drug Candidate.(LJP 394)
January 23, 2000... 2000 JAN 23 - (NewsRx.com) -- La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company announced publication of a scientific paper on a blood test used in its recent analysis of data from the Phase II/III clinical trial in lupus patients. The new blood test...

IL-12 Coadministration Enhances Antigen Vaccine Efficacy.(interleukin-12; gene vaccines)
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) Interleukin-12 (IL-12) expression vector coadministration with antigen 2 (Ag2) gene vaccine induces protective immunity against Coccidioides immitis, reported researchers from the United States. ...

Infliximab Successful in Phase III Trial of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- A randomized Phase III trial of infliximab, a chimeric anti-tumour necrosis factor alpha monoclonal antibody, demonstrated additive effects when combined with methotrexate in patients with rheumatoid arthritis,...

Inhaled Corticosteroids Decrease Mortality Rates.(in asthma)
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- A recent study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology suggests that a decrease in the asthma mortality rate in Israel may be due to increased use of inhaled corticosteroids, common anti-inflammatory...

Autologous Vaccine Is Therapeutic In Tumor Model.(liver metastasis model)
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- An autologous cancer vaccine improved survival in a murine model of metastatic colorectal cancer, reported researchers from the United States. "In preclinical studies, tumor cells genetically altered to...

Postoperative Adjuvant Adoptive Immunotherapy not Effective.(for stage 1 non-small cel lung cancer)
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Postoperative adjuvant adoptive immunotherapy with lymph node-LAK cells and IL-2 for pathologic stage I non-small cell lung cancer did not effect the course of residual disease, researchers from Japan reported. ...

Increased Dendritic Cells Increase Vaccine Efficacy.
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Procedures which increase the number of circulating dendritic cells (DCs) improve the efficacy of cancer vaccines, researchers from the United States reported. "DCs initiate primary and stimulate secondary...

Interleukin-7 Has Novel Role In Maintaining T Cells.
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Interleukin-7 has a novel and important role in the maintenance and maturation of naive CD4(+) T cells, according to a recent report. The capacity of the immune system to respond efficiently to new antigens...

Immunoglobulin Administration Beneficial to Anemic Fetuses.
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Immunoglobulin administration to fetuses can improve fetal hemolysis, researchers from Austria reported. "The purpose of this study was to examine fetal tolerance of high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG),...

Type 2 Cytokines Linked to Immunity in TB.(tuberculosis)
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Type 2 cytokines are associated with immunopathologic changes in tuberculosis patients. Researcher G.T. Seahand colleagues examined the extent of type 2 cytokine gene expression in patients with pulmonary...

Anti-HCV Immune Response Key to IFN Success.(interferon response)
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- A patient's anti-hepatitis C virus-specific immune response may be the key to interferon response. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) populations persist in vivo as a mixture of heterogeneous viruses called quasispecies....

Vitamin E Derivative Boosts Immune Response to Nasal Vaccination.
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Vitamin E TPGS (d-(alpha)tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate), a water soluble derivative of vitamin E, may be of value as a mucosal adjuvant. Researcher S. Somavarapu and colleagues at Aston...

T-Cell Responses in Peripheral Blood Not Reduced by Therapy.
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Short-term immunotherapy does not decrease peripheral blood T-cell proliferative responses to allergen, reported researchers from England. Ebner et al. (Clin. Exp. Allergy, 1997;27:1007-15) reported previously...

Alloreactive CD4(+) T Cells Inhibit HIV-1.
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Alloreactive CD4(+) T cells have an anti-HIV characteristic independent of their cytokine and chemokine receptor expression, reported researchers from England. "There have been reports suggesting that an immune...

TGF(beta) May Both Help and Hinder Tumor Growth.(transforming growth factor)
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Transforming growth factor-(beta)s (TGF(beta)s) can affect breast cancer pathogenesis and treatment in both positive and negative manners, suggested research from the United Kingdom. E. Anderson presented data...

Bone Marrow Cells Influence Gene Therapy Results.
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Bone marrow derived cells play an important role in the body's response to suicide or combination suicide/cytokine gene therapy, suggest researchers from England. "Using a Balb/C syngeneic model of colorectal...

Antigen-Targeted Therapy Uses scFv Fusion Proteins.(single chain antibody fusion proteins)
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Tumor cell targeting of immune effector molecules can be accomplished with tumor associated antigen specific single chain antibody (scFv) fusion proteins, reported researchers from England. "Expression of the...

Cytokine Gene Transfer Attacks Melanoma Cells.
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- A DNA vaccine encoding interleukin-12 (IL-12) has an anti-metastatic effect against malignant melanoma, reported researchers from Switzerland. K. Moelling and colleagues from the University of Zurich,...

Dendritic Cells Are Attractive Gene Delivery Vehicles.
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Immature dendritic cells (DCs) can be used as a tool for gene therapy of diseases, report researchers from England. "Immature DCs are well known as potent antigen presenting cells (APCs) and are thus excellent...

First Randomized Trial of a Colon Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise.
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Using a patient's own tumor cells to produce immunity against further cancer growth may offer longer life to some patients, researchers have found in the first randomized multi-center test of immunotherapy in colon...

Inner City Children Rely On Emergency Care for Asthma.
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University and Howard University confirmed that asthma management for low-income, African-American children living in urban areas relies on episodic and emergency care. Asthma...

Systemic Immunological Changes Induced by Mucosal Delivery.(during sublingual immunotherapy)
January 30, 2000... 2000 JAN 30 - (NewsRx.com) -- Systemic immunological changes are induced by the administration of grass pollen allergens via the oral mucosa during sublingual immunotherapy, reported researchers from Austria. "Twenty-four patients...