Anti-IgE Monoclonal Antibody Progresses to Phase III Trials in Asthma; Genentech, Novartis and Tanox Partner to Develop E25.SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO South San Francisco, city (1990 pop. 54,312), San Mateo co., W Calif.; inc. 1908. South San Francisco has several industrial parks; its manufactures include medical supplies and equipment, foods, paint, paper products, consumer goods, and clothing. , Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Sept. 19, 1997-- Genentech, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :GNE GNE Gateway Network Element (data communications) GNE Game Neverending (MMORPG) GNE Gross National Expenditure GNE Game Networking Engine GNE Graphical Network Editor (Nortel) ) announced today positive preliminary results from a Phase II trial in which the efficacy of rhuMAb-E25, a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody to IgE called E25, was tested in adults and adolescents with moderate to severe asthma. Genentech, Novartis Pharma AG and Tanox Biosystems, Inc., have agreed that these results support the continued development of E25 for the treatment of allergic asthma and allergic rhinitis. In a randomized ran·dom·ize tr.v. ran·dom·ized, ran·dom·iz·ing, ran·dom·iz·es To make random in arrangement, especially in order to control the variables in an experiment. , multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 317 moderate to severe allergic asthmatics were evaluated. Twenty-seven U.S. sites monitored patients' daily symptoms over a five-month treatment duration. It is anticipated that the results from the Phase II trial will be presented at this year's annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in San Diego, November 7-12th. Unlike conventional therapies such as steroids, bronchodilators Bronchodilators Definition Bronchodilators are medicines that help open the bronchial tubes (airways) of the lungs, allowing more air to flow through them. and antihistamines Antihistamines Definition Antihistamines are drugs that block the action of histamine (a compound released in allergic inflammatory reactions) at the H1 , E25 is designed to interfere early in the complex, multistep process that leads to the symptoms of allergy in patients who have asthma or rhinitis. Collectively, the three companies have investigated anti-IgE antibodies in 15 clinical studies designed to evaluate the safety of anti-IgE treatment. Currently, E25 is also being evaluated in a pivotal Phase II safety and efficacy trial in 525 patients with allergic rhinitis. "We are moving forward with Phase III planning based on very encouraging Phase II results," said Arthur D. Levinson Arthur D. Levinson (born March 31, 1950 in Seattle, Washington, United States) is President and Chief Executive Officer of Genentech. He has held these positions since July 1995, and was named chairman of the board of directors in 1999. , Ph.D., Genentech's president and chief executive officer. Genentech, Novartis and Tanox plan to start Phase III trials of E25 for allergic asthma early in the first quarter of 1998. Genentech, Inc. is a leading biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets human pharmaceuticals for significant unmet medical needs. Eleven of the currently marketed biotechnology products stem from Genentech science, six of which Genentech markets directly in the United States. The company has headquarters in South San Francisco, California South San Francisco is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 60,552 at the 2000 census. , and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. and Pacific Exchange under the symbol GNE. Novartis is a world leader in Life Sciences with core businesses in Healthcare, Agribusiness and Nutrition. In 1996, Novartis Group worldwide sales in Life Sciences were 27.6 billion Swiss francs, of which 16.3 billion were in Healthcare, 7.6 billion in Agribusiness and 3.7 billion in Nutrition. The company annually invests more than 3 billion Swiss francs in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis employs a workforce of about 89,000, and operates in over 100 countries around the world. Tanox Biosystems, Inc. incorporated in 1986, is a biotechnology research and development company based in Houston, Texas. Tanox is a leader in the development of novel monoclonal anti-body based treatments for diseases involving or affecting the human immune system. CONTACT: Genentech, Inc. Paul Laland, 415/225-2742 (Media Contact) Susan Bentley, 415/225-1034 (Investor Contact) Web address: http://www.gene.com |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion