Biotech Values

[gofishmarko]

Re : Rash as a surrogate marker for response

I haven't seen anything conclusive on this in the HCV area , but there are several cancer treatments that have shown an association between rash and response. In the case of MEDX' MDX-010 , rash ( and/or GI SEs ) is presumed to result from an abrupt reversal of immune tolerance , so one could imagine that reversing a longstanding tolerance to viral disease might have similar effects.

Here's a recent abstract on a proteasome inhibitor - Velcade - that might be doing something similar :

Drug-induced cutaneous vasculitis in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma treated with the novel proteasome inhibitor bortezomib: a possible surrogate marker of response?

http://tinyurl.com/336pb4