AVI BioPharma Announces Publication of SARS NEUGENE Antisense Studies in the Journal of Virology.PORTLAND, Ore. -- AVI BioPharma, Inc. (Nasdaq:AVII), today announced the publication of an article describing preclinical studies in which its NEUGENE(R) antisense compounds were used to inhibit infection by the severe acute respiratory syndrome Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Definition Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is the first emergent and highly transmissible viral disease to appear during the twenty-first century. coronavirus (SARS-CoV). These studies were conducted at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI TSRI The Scripps Research Institute TSRI Taiwan Sugar Research Institute ) in La Jolla, Calif. The article was published in the August 2005 Journal of Virology The Journal of Virology is an academic journal that covers research concerning viruses, using cross-disciplinary approaches including biochemistry, biophysics, cell and molecular biology, genetics, immunology, morphology, physiology and pathogenesis. and will be available online at http://jvi.asm.org/current.shtml. "This is one of the most comprehensive evaluations of a NEUGENE antisense antiviral drug ever published," said Patrick L. Iversen, Ph.D., senior vice president of research and development at AVI (Audio Video Interleaved) A Windows multimedia video format from Microsoft. It interleaves standard waveform audio and digital video frames (bitmaps) to provide reduced animation at 15 fps at 160x120x8 resolution. Audio is 11,025Hz, 8-bit samples. . "These data emphasize the robust antiviral potential of our antisense drugs, which demonstrates again that our NEUGENE antisense agents are highly promising as therapies to treat not only SARS coronavirus, but also a variety of other viruses." The experiments outlined in the paper demonstrate that SARS-CoV develops resistance to NEUGENE antisense only after multiple mutations in the viral genome, showing that the NEUGENE agent is less susceptible to viral escape than small molecule drugs. Further, the fact that the resistant mutations occurred only at the NEUGENE binding site verifies the antisense mechanism of action. SARS-CoV is a potent pathogen of humans with the potential for rapid global spread. The NEUGENE antiviral agent for SARS-CoV reduced virus-induced cell death and diminished viral spread. Further, the antiviral effects were observed when the compound was administered at any point in time before maximal viral growth. These observations confirm the powerful therapeutic potential against SARS-CoV infection. About AVI BioPharma AVI BioPharma develops therapeutic products for the treatment of life-threatening diseases using third-generation NEUGENE antisense drugs. AVI's lead NEUGENE antisense compound is designed to target cell proliferation disorders, including cardiovascular restenosis, cancer and polycystic kidney disease Polycystic Kidney Disease Definition Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is one of the most common of all life-threatening human genetic disorders. . In addition to targeting specific genes in the body, AVI's antiviral program uses NEUGENE antisense compounds to combat disease by targeting single-stranded RNA viruses, including West Nile virus West Nile virus, microorganism and the infection resulting from it, which typically produces no symptoms or a flulike condition. The virus is a flavivirus and is related to a number of viruses that cause encephalitis. , hepatitis C virus
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