Replies to post #82722 on Biotech Values

[iwfal]

ZGEN -

the polymorphism associated with SVR, resides 3kb upstream of the IL28B gene, which encodes IFN-l-3, and so this could be important to ZGEN with their Peg-INF lambda candidate.

If I remember correctly (I accidentally left my Janeway elsewhere) all three of the IFN-L's reside very close to each other on the genome. Presumably because they share some of the same regulatory functions (the article doesn't say whether the particular locus codes for a protein or not - but I suspect if it did they would state exactly which protein.) Thus this could be a regulator of IL-29 (ZGEN's drug). Or, OTOH, it could be that one of the other IFN-L's will be even more potent if the locus identified is only a regulator of one of the other IFN-L's. (It would be interesting to know whether ZGEN looked at all three possible IFN-L's in pre-clinical research before choosing IL-29)