Business Wire - May 15, 2000
IL-10 has been shown to play a significant role in inflammatory medical conditions, including ischemia/reperfusion injury and autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis.
"We now have direct evidence of an immune-mediated mechanism that explains the marked anti-inflammatory effects seen with our immune modulation therapies," said Dr. Anthony Bolton, Vasogen's Director of Research. "This new understanding at the molecular level is consistent with the success we have witnessed with our therapies in a growing number of models of important diseases."
These results, coming from research carried out under the direction of Dr. Daniel Sauder, Professor and Chief of Dermatology at the University of Toronto, were presented at the 61st Annual Meeting of the International Society of Dermatology, held on May 10 - 14 in Chicago. The results, obtained in an animal model of inflammatory skin disease, showed that the administration of a course of Vasogen's immune modulation therapy significantly reduced inflammation in the treated animals by 46% (p < 0.005) compared to control animals. In animals specifically bred to produce none of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, however, treatment with immune modulation therapy had no effect, demonstrating that IL-10 is an important mediator in the anti-inflammatory mechanism of these therapies.
"The suppression of inflammation that we have achieved with Vasogen's therapies is comparable to that of powerful immunosuppressive drugs, such as cyclosporine, but without the severe toxicity and long-term cancer risk of these agents," said Dr. Sauder. "These findings, along with the new evidence regarding the key role of IL-10 in the mechanism of immune modulation therapy, make me enthusiastic about the prospects for our ongoing clinical trial with VAS972 immune modulation therapy in psoriasis. A therapy with the ability to up-regulate the production of interleukin-10 in patients with inflammatory conditions would represent a major advance in the treatment of autoimmune and other inflammatory diseases."
Vasogen is focused on developing immune modulation therapies to advance the treatment of cardiovascular, autoimmune and related inflammatory diseases. These therapies are designed to target fundamental disease-causing events, providing safe, effective treatment.
Statements contained in this press release, including those pertaining to scientific and clinical research, commercialization plans, strategic alliances, and intellectual property protection, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements subject to a number of uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from statements made.
Vasogen Inc. 2155 Dunwin Drive Mississauga, ON, Canada L5L 4M1 tel: (905) 569-2265 fax: (905) 569-9231 http://www.vasogen.com
CONTACT: Vasogen Inc. Trevor Burns, Investor Relations Tel: 905/569-9065 E-mail: investor@vasogen.com
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