Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
PRNewswire - Monday October 19, 1998
Oxo Chemie AG, a Swiss-based innovative research company, developed WF10. Dimethaid Research owns all Canadian rights to WF10 along with 20% of Oxo Chemie and has helped fund the North American clinical development of this drug. "This is a very important development for Oxo Chemie and Dimethaid Research," said Rebecca Keeler, President and CEO of Dimethaid Research. "Results from previously completed Phase II studies of WF10 have been very encouraging and we are pleased to reach this pivotal point in the development of the drug."
Results from a double-blind clinical trial at Vanderbilt University were recently published in the journal Infection (July/Aug. 1998) and demonstrated that patients taking WF10 displayed a significantly lower frequency of opportunistic infections and fewer hospitalizations. At the recent 12th World AIDS Conference in Geneva, researchers presented clinical results from a study done at the University of California, San Francisco showing WF10 was well-tolerated and produced positive changes in immunologic factors thought to relate to slowing HIV disease progression.
The Phase III trial is expected to enroll 240 patients at 25 sites across North America. The trial will be conducted as a double blind and placebo-controlled study. Patients will receive scheduled infusions over an 11-week period with periodic follow-up for up to two years. The study will investigate the effects of WF10 on survival, disease progression as measured by surrogate markers, and prevention of opportunistic infections.
WF10 will also be tested for its ability to augment the cellular immune response and anti-viral effect in patients already receiving highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART). In these late-stage patients, the macrophage remains a last viable component of the HIV-damaged immune system. Even HAART does not appear effective against the latent HIV surviving in the macrophage, a known reservoir of the virus in AIDS patients.
Robert Murphy, M.D. of Northwestern University, Roy Gullick, M.D. of the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, James Kahn, M.D. of San Francisco General Hospital, and Kathleen Squires, M.D. of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will be the lead investigators.
Dimethaid Research is pleased to have provided funding for the development of WF10, which it believes, will translate into renewed hope and meaningful solutions for those suffering from AIDS.
SOURCE: Dimethaid Research Inc.
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