AEGiS-WSJ: Health: Ribozyme and Chiron Win FDA Approval To Test HIV Drug Wall Street JournalImportant note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Health: Ribozyme and Chiron Win FDA Approval To Test HIV Drug

Wall Street Journal - Friday, 9 January 1997.

BOULDER, Colo. -- Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it and Chiron Corp. received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that allows limited human testing of a drug employing gene therapy against HIV infection.

In Nasdaq Stock Market trading, shares of the biopharmaceutical concern shot up 19%, or $2.375, to $15, while Chiron, an Emeryville, Calif., biotechnology concern rose 37.5 cents to $19.875 a share.

Ribozyme said the testing will involve a drug with several components, including the use of multiple ribozymes -- a form of RNA molecule -- to combat the development of resistance to therapy. The company said the treatment could possibly "rebuild portions of the immune system."

Chiron's technology will be used to protect cells treated with the special ribozymes against HIV when the cells are returned to the patient's body. The protection will allow the treated cells to manufacture more ribozymes, which the testers hope will help strengthen the immune system.

The testing, scheduled to begin in the first half of 1997, will involve five patients at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, Calif., and at Childrens Hospital, Los Angeles.

Keywords: HIV; IMMUNE SYSTEMKWDhiv;immunesystem
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