Dendreon Utilizes Pervasive Antigen Telomerase in New Cancer Immunotherapy.Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers American Association American Association refers to one of the following professional baseball leagues:
BIOWIRE2K SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2003 -- Preclinical Results Show Significant Survival Benefit -- -- Data to Be Presented at Annual AAI AAI American Association of Immunologists. Meeting -- Dendreon Corporation (Nasdaq:DNDN) today announced it will present research highlighting the application of the company's new immunotherapy technology to the widely expressed cancer antigen, telomerase telomerase /telo·mer·ase/ (te-lo´mer-as) a DNA polymerase involved in the formation of telomeres and the maintenance of telomere sequences during replication. te·lom·er·ase n. . Results of preclinical animal studies have demonstrated that the approach is capable of inducing tumor rejection in vivo in vivo /in vi·vo/ (ve´vo) [L.] within the living body. in vi·vo adj. Within a living organism. in vivo adv. . The research is scheduled for presentation this weekend by Reiner Laus, M.D., vice president of research and development at Dendreon, at the American Association of Immunologists 90th Anniversary Meeting in Denver, Colorado. The telomerase antigen is expressed in nearly all human cancers, making it an appealing target for cancer immunotherapy Cancer immunotherapy is the use of the immune system to reject cancer. The main premise is stimulating the patient's immune system to attack the malignant tumor cells that are responsible for the disease. . Dendreon researchers have applied the company's proprietary alternative reading frame (ARF) technology to telomerase. The ARF technology uses, as a target for cancer vaccines Cancer vaccines A treatment that uses the patient's immune system to attack cancer cells. Mentioned in: Pancreatic Cancer, Exocrine , abnormal peptides produced by cells as they translate genes into proteins. Researchers at Dendreon have discovered that ARF sequences are potent targets for cancer vaccines and have applied for a patent covering the compositions and methods that relate to ARF technology. Study details Utilizing Dendreon's proprietary ARF technology, immunogens from telomerase were derived and used to immunize im·mu·nize v. 1. To render immune. 2. To produce immunity in, as by inoculation. im mice. Mice were then inoculated with tumors that expressed telomerase. The mice treated with the telomerase vaccine lived up to 50 percent longer than their non-treated counterparts (p= less than 0.01). Additionally, two out of 10 telomerase-treated mice remained tumor free indefinitely. No treatment-related toxicities were observed. In a related study, Dendreon researchers have demonstrated that the ARF technology is applicable to Her-2 positive tumors as well. "Telomerase is an attractive therapeutic target due to its expression rates in a wide range of tumor types, and we are pleased to have demonstrated that we can elicit in vivo tumor protection by applying our new ARF technology to telomerase," said Laus. "We believe telomerase-targeted immunotherapies will potentially play an important role in future product candidates." Dendreon Corporation is a biotechnology company developing targeted therapies for cancer. The company has acquired rights from Geron Corporation to incorporate telomerase into its Antigen Delivery Cassette(TM) vaccine technology. Dendreon's lead investigational product candidate, Provenge(R), is a cancer immunotherapy undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials phase 3 clinical trial Phase 3 study. See Phase study. for the treatment of advanced-stage prostate cancer prostate cancer, cancer originating in the prostate gland. Prostate cancer is the leading malignancy in men in the United States and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in men. . In addition to its therapeutic vaccines in clinical and preclinical development for a variety of cancers, Dendreon's product pipeline also includes monoclonal antibodies This is a list of monoclonal antibodies, antibodies which are clones of a single parent cell. When used as medications, the generic names end in -mab (see "Nomenclature of monoclonal antibodies"). and small molecule product candidates. Dendreon has established important research and development alliances with industry leaders Genentech, Inc. and Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd. For more information about the company and its programs, visit www.dendreon.com. Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, particularly those risks and uncertainties inherent in the process of discovering, developing and commercializing drugs that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics. Factors that may cause such a difference include risks relating to Dendreon's relatively limited operating history, risks associated with development of early-stage product candidates through preclinical and clinical research and development, risks associated with completing Dendreon's clinical trials, the risk that the safety and/or efficacy results of preclinical studies preclinical studies, n.pl a term used to describe research done before a clinical study. May be laboratory or epidemiologic research. will not support further development, the risks that the safety and/or efficacy results of a clinical trial will not support an application for a biologics license, the risk that the FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. will not approve a product for which a biologics license has been applied, the uncertainty of Dendreon's future access to capital, the failure by Dendreon to secure and maintain relationships with collaborators, the dependence on the efforts of third parties, the risks that a patent will not be granted or that the claims will be restricted or challenged by a third party, and the dependence on intellectual property. Further information on the factors and risks that could affect Dendreon's business, financial condition and results of operations, are contained in Dendreon's SEC reports, which are available at www.sec.gov |
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