Aphton Scientific Collaborator Announces Interim Results of Gastric Cancer Phase II Clinical Trial At 12th International Congress in Paris On Anti-Cancer Treatment.

Business Editors & Medical/Health Writers

PARIS--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 8, 2002

Aphton Corporation's (Nasdaq:APHT) scientific collaborator, Dr. J. Ajani, announced today interim results of the gastric cancer Phase II clinical trial with Aphton's immunogen, G17DT, in a symposium titled "G17DT: A NEW APPROACH TO GROWTH FACTOR NEUTRALIZATION" at the 12th International Congress on Anti-Cancer Treatment held this week in Paris, France. The symposium was chaired by Professor J. Ajani of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

Dr. Ajani, the principal investigator of Aphton's Phase II clinical trial for patients with metastatic gastric cancer, in which G17DT in combination with chemotherapy (cisplatin plus 5FU/Leucovorin), presented an interim analysis of the first 30 patients on whom results were available. No side effects were attributed to the immunogen. When administered with G17DT the patients completed on average 5.5 cycles of chemotherapy, compared to a normal average of 2.5 cycles completion before side effects force discontinuation. Of the 30 patients, 15 had a partial tumor response (tumor shrinkage by 50% or more) for an overall response rate of 50%. One patient had a complete response (no detectable residual tumor) and 14 had a partial response. These results compare favorably with reported response rates of chemotherapy with cisplatin plus 5 FU/Leucovorin in large, controlled clinical trials for patients with metastatic gastric cancer.

Aphton Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company in one Phase III and three Phase II clinical trials developing products using its innovative vaccine-like technology for neutralizing hormones that participate in gastrointestinal system and reproductive system cancer and non-cancer diseases; and for the prevention of pregnancy. Aphton has several strategic alliances including strategic alliances with Aventis Pasteur (NYSE:AVE - news) and GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK - news).

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