AVI BioPharma, Inc. Demonstrates Effectiveness Of Immune Control Via RNA-Based Therapeutics In Hemorrhagic Virus Infections

Main Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Also Included In: Immune System / Vaccines
Article Date: 15 Sep 2009 - 17:00 PDT

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AVI BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVII), a developer of RNA-based drugs, announced the presentation of data regarding the Company's antisense technology for control of the immune response in hemorrhagic virus infections, including Ebola and Marburg virus, at the 49th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in San Francisco, CA.

Patrick L. Iversen, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Strategic Alliances, presented data from preclinical studies demonstrating that specific peptide conjugated phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PPMO) targeting innate and adaptive immune responses can diminish hemorrhagic viral pathogenesis and dramatically increase host survival rates in mouse lethal challenge studies. The experimental design involved injection of PPMO into mice 4 hours prior to infection with a mouse-adapted Ebola Zaire virus. Results demonstrated that treatment with a PPMO targeting the IL-10 exon 4 splice acceptor resulted in an average 60 percent survival (41 survivors in 70 challenged and treated mice) and, in one experiment, 100 percent survival (10 survivors of 10 infected and treated mice), whereas untreated controls showed only 18 +/- 16 percent survival (N=220). In separate experiments, treatment with this PPMO also provided for 90 percent survival in a Marburg lethal challenge mouse model.

"The observed high effectiveness of the PPMOs targeting immune responses to Ebola and Marburg viruses suggests that such an application could potentially be applied to other viruses or vaccines to provide a broader and more sustained therapeutic benefit," said Dr. Iversen. "The reduction in viral pathogenesis through gene-specific immune modulation could potentially be applied to numerous areas of unmet medical need."

These data are a result of continued studies conducted in collaboration with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID).

Source
AVI BioPharma

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