Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - Monday April 26, 1999
The approach is a novel one in the fight against acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Therapies already on the market, such as AZT, attack the HIV virus once it has already infected the cells. PRO 140, however, blocks the virus that causes AIDS before it reaches the cells.
Combined with other therapies, the antibody could also eliminate HIV-infected cells from the body.
Progenics, which conducted the study with the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center (ADARC) in New York, said PRO 140 in the in vitro tests "potently" blocked the fusion of viral and target cell membranes, which is an early step of the HIV replication cycle.
The study, which appears in the May issue of the Journal of Virology, also showed that PRO 140 "effectively inhibits" HIV entry at concentrations that have no apparent effect on the normal function of CCR5.
CCR5 mediates the activation and trafficking of immune system cells and was identified in 1996 by researchers at Progenics and ADARC.
It has been shown that individuals who harbor two defective CCR5 genes are resistant to HIV infection. HIV positive individuals who harbor one defective and one normal CCR5 gene have lower viral loads and progress to AIDS more slowly than those with two functional CCR5 genes.
"Given its potent and selective inhibition of HIV, PRO 140 has a compelling therapeutic profile that warrants further evaluation in the best available in vitro and in vivo models of HIV infection," said William C. Olson, senior director of Research and Development at Progenics.
Progenics added that it expected to move PRO 140 into the clinic for Phase 1 trials next year.
The study also said that PRO 140's selective inhibition of HIV minimized the potential for toxic side-effects.
Monoclonal antibodies are genetically engineered versions of the human body's own system for flagging invader cells or diseased cells.
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