CpG 7909 is active in immunocompromised patients.

2003 MAR 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Inc., announced preliminary results from a physician-sponsored human clinical study.

Results from the proof-of-principle study demonstrate that Coley's CpG 7909, when used in combination with Engerix-B [Hepatitis B Vaccine, Recombinant (HBV)], confers an improved and more rapid protective antibody response in severely immunocompromised patients as compared to Engerix-B alone.

Protective levels of antibody were achieved with the addition of CpG 7909, even in patients who had previously failed to mount a protective antibody response to at least three prior doses of the vaccine alone. Curtis Cooper, MD, assistant professor of medicine, The Ottawa Hospital, Division of Infectious Diseases, who was Principal Investigator on the study, presented the study at The 10th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston, Massachusetts.

"This is very impressive data," stated Cooper. "Not only did CpG 7909 induce earlier and higher titers overall, but all CpG subjects attained protective titers whereas not all control subjects did. CpG 7909 may allow effective vaccination of immunocompromised patients against hepatitis B and a wide range of other diseases."

The findings announced are consistent with Coley's prior clinical and preclinical studies, which have shown CpGs to bolster immune responses in severely immune deficient, non-responsive, and healthy populations. Coley is developing multiple CpG products as monotherapies and as combination therapies for cancer and infectious disease applications.

"We are very pleased with the important clinical data achieved by Cooper using CpG 7909. The demonstrated ability for CpGs to quickly create immunity where there was none has important implications for our oncology franchise," said Robert L. Bratzler, PhD, Coley's president and CEO. "These and other data suggest that CpGs may have the ability to stimulate a long-lasting, tumor-specific antitumor response even in immunocompromised patient populations, such as advanced cancer patients undergoing intensive chemotherapy, bone marrow transplant patients, organ transplant patients, end-stage renal disease patients or the elderly."

Bratzler ...