Immtech establishes anti-fungal consortium and receives new patents to focus exclusively on developing anti-fungal drugs.Immtech International, Inc. (Vernon Hills, IL) announced that it has established an Anti-Fungal Consortium of university-based scientists to focus exclusively on the development of the company's dicationic compounds into anti-fungal drugs. This consortium includes Dr. Richard R. Tidwell and Dr. Jed Hall of the University of North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. (Chapel Hill, NC) Dr. John R. Perfect of Duke University Durham, NC), Dr. David W. Boykin and Dr. W. David Wilson of Georgia Sate University (Atlanta, GA), and Dr. Christine C. Dykstra of Auburn University (Auburn, AL). Immtech's anti-fungal program is focused on developing broad-spectrum oral drugs that can be used to easily and safely treat systemic diseases. In establishing this consortium, Immtech has organized a world-class team to quickly move its lead compounds from synthesis, through in vitro in vitro /in vi·tro/ (in ve´tro) [L.] within a glass; observable in a test tube; in an artificial environment. in vi·tro adj. In an artificial environment outside a living organism. testing, to 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. models of efficacy against the most common types of fungi diseases that afflict a large number of the population. The company is working with the consortium to test the top 15 to 20 lead drug candidates in vivo. These compounds have been selected because of their superior activity in a screening program sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, that evaluated hundreds of compounds for fungal activity. Immtech plans to select a candidate to enter pre-clinical development within 2000. Together, these scientists from four major universities have cooperated as co-inventors on eight issued United States patents covering the chemical structures and use of these compounds as anti-fungal agents. The recently issued United States Patent 6,017,941, covers thiophane based dicationic compounds that are used for both the treatment and prevention of Cryptococcus neoformans infections. The previous seven patents issued covered other structural compounds and uses as anti-fungal agents, including Candida albicans Candida albicans, n a pathogenic yeast, which is the causal agent of thrush, vaginal infections, and systemic candidiasis. Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus Aspergillus fumigatus Microbiology The fungal species that is the most common cause of human aspergillosis, which may infect the lungs, invade blood vessels, or disseminate to various organs. See Aspergillosis. . The combined patent estate covers compounds for treating the three most common forms of fungi (including multi-drug resistant fungi strains) that can be fatal if untreated. The global market for systemic anti-fungal drugs is approximately $3 billion annually. Immtech plans to enter its lead anti-fungal compound into clinical development within the next 12 months. Immtech has an exclusive worldwide license of all the anti-fungal compounds developed by this program. Immtech is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of fungal and other infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, and diarrhea; and it is also developing products to treat cancer and HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. . The company has two independent programs for developing drugs. The first is based on an anti-microbial pharmaceutical platform from which many drugs can be commercialized. Immtech's dication pharmaceuticals work by blocking life sustaining enzymes from binding to the minor groove of the DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. , killing the infectious organisms that cause fungal, parasitic, protozoan protozoan (prō'təzō`ən), informal term for the unicellular heterotrophs of the kingdom Protista. Protozoans comprise a large, diverse assortment of microscopic or near-microscopic organisms that live as single cells or in simple , bacterial and viral diseases. The second is based on biological proteins that work in conjunction with the body's immune system immune system Cells, cell products, organs, and structures of the body involved in the detection and destruction of foreign invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Immunity is based on the system's ability to launch a defense against such invaders. . These biological proteins are derivatives of C-Reactive Protein C-Reactive Protein Definition C-reactive protein (CRP) is a protein produced by the liver and found in the blood. Purpose C-reactive protein is not normally found in the blood of healthy people. , which occurs naturally in the body and which the company believes can be used to treat a variety of cancer. The company has three products entering human clinical trials in 2000. |
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