Replies to post #19652 on NanoViricides Inc. (NNVC)

[Blither]

NanoViricides, Inc. Signs Agreement with a Major Pharma

Material Transfer Agreement is First Step Towards Licensing Agreement

* Monday March 2, 2009, 7:00 am EST

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* NanoViricides, Inc.

WEST HAVEN, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NanoViricides, Inc. (OTC BB: NNVC.OB) (the "Company"), reported today that it has signed a Material Transfer Agreement with a major pharmaceutical company (“Party”). The Agreement initially entails evaluation of one of the Company’s nanoviricide drug candidates by an independent consultant chosen by the Party. This drug candidate has been designed to eradicate viral infections of the external eye, including those caused by adenovirus and herpes virus (“HSV”). It is the understanding of the Parties that, should the testing results be favorable, they will enter into good faith negotiations for a potential long-term, exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement for the development and commercialization of the drug.
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“This agreement is the first step towards a potential licensing agreement,” said Eugene Seymour, MD, MPH, CEO of Nanoviricides, Inc, adding, “It clearly signals that our technology is now attracting serious attention from major Pharma companies.”

The terms of the Agreement do not allow the disclosure of the identity of the Party or the exact terms of the Agreement.

HSV and some adenoviruses cause most of the cases of keratitis, a serious infection of the cornea. Importantly, HSV infection can lead to corneal scarring that may necessitate corneal transplantation. In addition, some adenoviruses cause a majority of conjunctivitis cases (“pink eye”). The remaining cases of conjunctivitis, caused by bacteria, are treatable with topical antibiotics. Currently, there are no effective treatments for viral diseases of the exterior portion of the eye.

The Company has already demonstrated strong efficacy against an adenovirus-caused external eye disease called epidemic kerato-conjunctivitis (EKC). Rapid clinical improvement in the treated animals was reported by independent researchers who tested the effects of the nanoviricides drug candidate against adenoviral EKC. Based on computer modeling, the Company believes that the broad-spectrum nature of the ligand used in this nanoviricide should enable it to be effective against HSV.

The total market for viral conjunctivitis is estimated to be in the billions of dollars. The incidence of severe herpes keratitis is estimated to be 250,000 cases per year in the USA. In Japan, where EKC is a reportable disease, it is estimated that there are at least one million cases per year. The number of cases of non-specific conjunctivitis (pink eye) is considered to be far greater, possibly into tens of millions in the US, and into hundreds of millions worldwide.

[Ubertino]

New antibodies block a range of influenzas
Monday, March 02, 2009

[SNIP]
They found that the antibody interacted not with the hemagglutinin's head, as antibodies often do, but rather with its stem.

This tactic appears common among the new antibodies. They poke deep into a pocket of the stem, apparently paralyzing hemagglutinin so it cannot change its shape in the way needed for the virus to fuse with the cell membrane. Many influenza strains share the same stem structure, which likely explains why the antibodies can react with them all. Marasco speculates that viruses use mutation-tolerant heads to distract the immune system from the stems.

Based on these results, a vaccine that directed the immune system to the hemagglutinin's stem could provide broad, long-lasting protection. Making such a vaccine would involve engineering a hemagglutinin in which the head is deleted or somehow covered up, but which maintains the stem structure. "That's a challenge," Palese says, but it's "possible to do".

Many paths to therapy

The researchers are also optimistic about the more immediate goal of using the new antibodies themselves for treatment. Antibody-based treatment would not be widely practical, but it could help contain a pandemic. Moreover, seasonal influenza kills 250,000 people worldwide every year, with the most vulnerable being anyone unable to mount an effective immune response. "For those people, this could be life-saving," Marasco says.

The antibodies do fail to recognize some hemagglutinin variants, apparently because of a structural difference in the stems. It appears, however, that there are only two fundamental stem structures among all influenza hemagglutinins. So the strategies employed in this study could also be used to target the remaining variants.

"You might be asking too much if you're looking for one vaccine for every conceivable influenza," says Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Bethesda, Maryland. "If you have one or two that cover the vast majority of isolates, I wouldn't be ashamed to call that a universal vaccine."
http://diseasesnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-antibodies-block-range-of.html