BioWorld Coverage of Hawaii Biotech (July 2003)

Hi, Biotech is an independent publication with no affiliation with Hawaii Biotech, Inc. This page preserves a historical record from the company's original press archive, republished for research and archival purposes. Copyright in the original material remains with its original owner.

To subscribe, please call BIOWORLD® Customer Service at (800) 688-2421; outside the U.S. and Canada, call (404) 262-5476. Copyright © 2003 Thomson BioWorld®. Reproduction is strictly prohibited. Visit our web site at www.bioworld.com. • Hawaii Biotech Inc. , of Honolulu, said its West Nile virus vaccine protected 100 percent of test animals from both illness and death when challenged with human West Nile virus. In contrast, 77 percent of the control animals died, and survivors showed signs of illness. Hawaii Biotech's genetically engineered subunit vaccine technology represents a noninfectious, potentially safer alternative to live virus vaccines, it said. • Insert Therapeutics Inc. , of Pasadena, Calif., was awarded a Phase I Flexible System to Advance Innovative Research grant from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. The grant will be used to support the development of its nonviral nucleic acid delivery system, called Cyclosert, for targeted systemic delivery of the interferonalpha gene to tumors. • La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co., of San Diego, said that, based on recent discussions with the FDA, the company might pursue an accelerated approval for its lupus drug candidate Riquent. The FDA will make the determination of approvability and the conditions of the approval after it has reviewed the company's new drug application, which is expected to be submitted around the end of the year. Riquent is designed to prevent the production of antibodies responsible for lupus kidney disease without suppressing the normal functions of the immune system, La Jolla said. • Northwest Biotherapeutics Inc., of Bothell, Wash., said it will present favorable long-term follow-up data from advanced-stage prostate cancer patients treated with DCVax- Prostate in a clinical trial initiated three years ago at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The data will be presented by at the Commercializing Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines conference that runs today and Friday in Washington. • Palatin Technologies Inc. , of Cranbury, N.J., completed patient enrollment in a Phase IIb at-home study of PT- 141, being developed for male and female sexual dysfunction. The study is designed to examine safety and efficacy for male erectile dysfunction across a range of intranasally administered doses of PT-141 in an at-home environment. Two hundred and seventy patients have been enrolled, ranging from 21 to 70 years of age, all suffering from moderate to severe erectile dysfunction and having a history of responsiveness to Viagra, sold by Pfizer Inc., of New York. • Phoenix Pharmacologics Inc. , of Lexington, Ky., reported Phase II results of a protein known as arginine deiminase in treating hepatocellular carcinoma. Two of the 19 patients are in complete remission without any clinical evidence of disease, seven have experienced a greaterthan 50 percent remission of their tumor, and seven had stable disease with no increase in tumor size. In the six months since the end of the Italian study, 14 continue to derive medical benefit and their average survival was five times greater than the historical life expectancy for comparable patient populations, the privately held company said. Phoenix added that the results support its plans to begin a Phase III trial in Europe in September. • Pieris Proteolab AG , of Freising, Germany, and the Technical University of Munich formed an alliance to conduct further research into lipocalins and Anticalins. The company said Anticalins represent a new class of engineered proteins based on the lipocalin scaffold and offer an alternative to antibodies. Pieris was assigned two patents from the university, one of which refers to a human lipocalin scaffold. Future inventions will either be licensed exclusively to Pieris or in some cases assigned to Pieris. Apart from research support, the university will receive milestone payments and royalties. • SuperGen Inc. , of Dublin, Calif., reported data from two Phase II studies suggesting that Nipent (pentostatin for injection) as part of a combination therapy is active in patients with low-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The studies were presented at the 2003 Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference in Kohala Coast, Hawaii. Nipent is approved as a single-agent treatment for patients with hairy-cell leukemia. • Syngen International plc , of Berkeley, Calif., reported changes to the composition of its board and the relocation of its head office from the U.S. to the UK. The company said that in order to reflect Sygen's increasing focus on biotechnology and its application to animal breeding, the group's chief technology officer, Graham Plastow, was appointed to the board as an executive director. Plastow, a British citizen, joined the group in July 1983. • The United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation , of Pittsburgh, presented a $50,000 grant to Giovanni Manfredi, assistant professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College, to study mitochondrial DNA complementation and recombination. The goal of the study is a contribution to the identification of tools for the treatment of mitochondrial diseases. • V.I. Technologies Inc., of Watertown, Mass., said an article published in the August issue of Transfusion highlighted the inactivation capability of its Inactine PEN1 10 Pathogen Reduction System, which it said effectively eradicates high titers of this pathogenic virus. The study also demonstrated the stability of West Nile virus in blood with detectable infectivity remaining throughout the 42-day storage period allowed for units of red blood cells. The product's use in red blood cells is being tested in Phase III trials. FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2003 B IOWORLDfi TODAY PAGE 5 OF 8 O THER N EWS T O N OTE ADVERTISING? For information on advertising opportunities in BioWorld Today, call Steve Vance at (404) 262-5511