Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (PPHM): PR 1-18-05: 2nd DOD Grant, $585k for TarvacinAC

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Posted by: cjgaddy	Date: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 3:23:18 PM
In reply to: None	Post # of 55981

PR 1-18-05: 2nd DOD Grant, $585k for TarvacinAC
”Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Announces Second DOD Grant for Preclinical Tarvacin Prostate Cancer Studies - Results Could Help Guide Design of Tarvacin Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials - Over $3 Million in Aggregate Grant Funding Has Now Been Awarded to Study Tarvacin at the Univ. of Texas SW Medical Center”
http://ir.peregrineinc.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=74236&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=805812
TUSTIN, CA., Jan 18 2006: Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPHM), a biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of innovative, clinical stage product candidates for viral diseases and cancer, today announced that the U.S. Dept. of Defense (DOD) has awarded a grant totaling $585,000 to its collaborators at UTSW-MC/Dallas to conduct preclinical studies of Tarvacin Anti-Cancer as a potential treatment for prostate cancer. Tarvacin Anti-Cancer, Peregrine's lead vascular targeting antibody, is currently in a Phase I clinical trial for advanced refractory solid tumors.

In Nov. 2005, Peregrine announced a major DOD prostate cancer grant to UT-SW researchers for preclinical studies of Tarvacin in combination with chemotherapy. With this new project, the total DOD commitment to Tarvacin prostate cancer research exceeds one million dollars. Altogether more than three million dollars in aggregate grant funding has been awarded to UT-SW researchers to study Tarvacin in anti-cancer and anti-viral applications.

"This second peer-reviewed Defense Department grant is another confirmation of the research community's growing interest in the therapeutic potential of Tarvacin Anti-Cancer," said Steven W. King, CEO of Peregrine. "As we move to complete our first Phase l cancer trial later this year, we look forward to applying findings from these ongoing research efforts to advance later stage human studies of Tarvacin in a variety of solid tumor cancers."

In the new prostate cancer studies, UT-SW researchers will use several realistic and well-validated models of prostate cancer to focus on issues relevant to optimization of therapy, including dosing and scheduling, as well as how best to combine Tarvacin with chemotherapy to achieve synergistic therapeutic effects. They will assess the efficacy of Tarvacin Anti-Cancer against primary tumors and examine its impact on bone metastases. The results of these studies are expected to help guide the design of human prostate cancer studies for Tarvacin Anti-Cancer.

"This new prostate cancer grant, which brings together the expertise of several disciplines at UT-SW, will employ advanced techniques such as MRI tumor oximetry to measure dynamic changes in the tumors," said Ralph Mason, Ph.D., professor of radiology at UT-SW and a principal investigator of the study. "We expect that the findings of these studies will be directly applicable to the design of Tarvacin clinical trials for prostate cancer."

Tarvacin is a monoclonal antibody that binds selectively to phospholipids, certain components of the cell structure that are located inside normal cells but which become exposed on the outside of cells that line the blood vessels of tumors, creating a specific target for anti-cancer therapies. Once bound to tumor blood vessels, Tarvacin alerts the body's immune system to attack the tumor's blood supply, resulting in tumor cell death. Tarvacin Anti-Cancer has already demonstrated promising preclinical activity in studies of human and rat prostate tumors.

The DOD manages the Congressional Special Interest Medical Research Programs (CSI) including breast, prostate and ovarian cancers. Since fiscal year 1992, CSI programs have handled approximately $3.4 billion in Congressional appropriations for peer-reviewed research aimed to prevent, control and cure disease. Prostate cancer, an important target of these programs, is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men, accounting for 30% of all male cancers, and prostate cancer is second only to lung cancer as a leading cause of cancer deaths in men. Currently, there is no cure for locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer.

Similar to its mechanism of action in cancer, Tarvacin also targets phospholipids exposed on the cell surface when the cell is infected with certain viruses, mobilizing the immune system to attack and destroy both the viruses and the infected cells. Tarvacin Anti-Viral is in Phase I clinical studies for Hepatitis C infections and is in preclinical studies for potential use against Influenza, Cytomegalovirus, HIV and other life-threatening viruses.

About Peregrine:
Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of innovative product candidates in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer and viral diseases. The company is pursuing three separate clinical trials in cancer and anti-viral indications with its lead product candidates Tarvacin and Cotara. Peregrine also has in-house manufacturing capabilities through its wholly-owned subsidiary Avid Bioservices, Inc. (www.avidbio.com), which provides development and bio-manufacturing services for both Peregrine and outside customers. Additional info: www.peregrineinc.com.
Safe Harbor *snip*
Investors: Brod & Schaffer, 800-987-8256, ir@peregrineinc.com
Media: Barbara Lindheim, GendeLLindheim BioCom Partners, 212-918-4650
*end PR*

= = = = = = =
Prev. Grants for the study of TarvacinAC:

11-3-05 DOD Grant: $583k to Thorpe for Tarvacin+Chemo/Prostate Cancer:
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=8346395

2004: Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Found. awards Thorpe Lab $247k to study Tarvacin+Docetaxel combo vs. Breast Cancer:
“Since 3G4 is already chimerized [“TARVACIN”] and close to clinical trials, it should be possible to take the 3G4/Docetaxel combo rapidly into clinical trials in breast cancer patients.”
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=7169616

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