Avid Bioservices Inc (CDMO)

[jazzbeerman]

jake,

VX950 is a HCV protease inhibitor, for a specific HCV protease.

VX950 therapy exhibited scary runaway mutations, (strains with a protease that were resistant to VX950), when it was used as monotherapy in early trials.

VX950 will NEVER be used as monotherapy.

VX950 will need an immune modulator's help.
(or a cocktail of antivirals like today's current HIV therapy, which is a long way off if ever).

Right now that immune modulator is interferon.


Bavituximab is an ab that targets a host-cell-derived molecule that is externalized on all enveloped viruses.
A second mechanism of Bavi involves the fact that the exact target of bavi just so happens to be the molecule that provides the "fork in the road" which diverts your immune system from dealing appropriately with a virus.
Another fascinating (and cutting edge/recent insight) is that Bavituximab also may clean up the debris that came about because the virus wasn't noticed correctly in the first place, - debris that circulates through the body and dampens the immune response further.


Interferon is Bavi's potential competition.

Bavi in early trials has already been shown to meet or beat interferon's effect in similar patient pools with similar regimens.
(with no toxicity)

IMO, the more good antivirals like VX950 the better. I hope there are several that eventually make it.
Schering, Vertex, VRUS, etc...


Bavi needs to keep performing as it has been.
I also expect, obviously, that eight weeks of bavi will show better results than two weeks...

I wonder how much of an "adaptive immune" response we'll see in the 8 wk study...

(It's my opinion that parameters of the 8 wk HCV/HIV trial were influenced/guided by insights gained from research at Duke.)


j