PanaMed Corporation (PANA)

[jmhollen]

PanaMed Corporation Concludes Stage One of Treatment Program for HIV/AIDS Therapeutic. Stage Two to Include Larger Patient Base.

The first human treatment program with PanaMed's candidate HIV/AIDS therapeutic was designed to ascertain whether the therapeutic is safe and efficacious.
Wednesday September 25, 8:30 am ET

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2002-- Indianapolis based PanaMed Corporation announces today that the Company concluded Stage One of the first human treatment program for its immunomodulating therapeutic to treat patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Currently, a majority of the patients who have received treatment since commencement of the Company's program in June appear to tolerate well the dosages being administered and to demonstrate positive reactions. As data is being further analyzed it is premature to project conclusive long-term results.

Due to the progress achieved in Stage One, the Company is preparing to expand into Stage Two of its human treatment program for the candidate therapeutic. While the main objectives of Stage Two are identical to those of Stage One, Stage Two of the program will include a larger group of patients.

The main objectives of both Stage One and Stage Two of the Company's program are to test, record and analyze patient response to different dosage levels of the therapeutic, which is being administered in a controlled, inpatient setting, in terms of tolerance and safety, whether and how dosages generate reactions by the patient's immune system, and whether and to what extent the therapeutic reduces the viral load within the patient's body.

General information on HIV and AIDS:

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus. HIV is structurally simple, essentially consisting of genes and enzymes encased in a protein capsule. This design requires HIV to replicate inside host cells. HIV's favorite hosts are white blood cells called helper T cells in which the virus docks with molecules on those cells called CD4 and CCR5. Once HIV binds itself to a receptor on a host cell the virus begins uncoating inside the cell; during uncoating, the protein capsule breaks up, releasing the virus's genes. HIV then transcribes genes into mobile strands of messenger RNA, which the host cell translates, or uses as a guide for making the encoded proteins. The viral genome, which takes the form of DNA, is then freed for copying and directing the production of viral proteins. Once these freshly formed viral particles are produced they escape from the cell and migrate to, attack, and destroy new healthy host cells. In time and after continual replication and the corresponding destruction of helper T cells, the HI virus causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). AIDS is the final and most serious stage of HIV disease, in which the signs and symptoms of severe immune deficiency have developed. The HI virus, in an AIDS patient, effectively floods the body's immune response disabling its ability to fight off foreign entities such as additional infections.

World Health Organization (WHO) reports estimate that HIV has infected more than 50 million people worldwide. Approximately 15,000 new patients are infected each day.

Contact:
PanaMed Corporation
Phillip Butler, 800/388-0750



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