MSL-109 Ineffective Adjuvant Therapy for AIDS-Related CMV Retinitis

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

MSL-109 Ineffective Adjuvant Therapy for AIDS-Related CMV Retinitis

Reuters Health Information Services (12/18/97)

Abstract: In the December issue of the Archives of Opthamology, Dr. Douglas A. Jabs and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University report that MSL-109--the human monoclonal antibody of the IgG1 -kappa subclass that earlier demonstrated in vitro activity against cytomegalovirus--has now been found to be ineffective as an adjuvant therapy for CMV retinitis in AIDS patients. Based on findings from a phase II/III randomized, placebo- controlled trial of more than 200 AIDS patients with active CMV retinitis, the researchers discovered no significant differences in morbidity rates or quality-of-life outcomes between the control group and the group that received bi- weekly doses of MSL-109. They did, however, find a higher mortality rate among patients treated with the antibody, but remain uncertain as to the cause of this finding. Jabs et al. suggest that MSL-109's lack of efficacy could be tied to the antibody's ineffectiveness against established cases of CMV retinitis, or it may be incapable of crossing the blood-ocular barrier.

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