CEL-SCI's Cel-1000 Shown To Significantly Enhance Immune Response Against Hepatitis B Antigen In Animals

Main Category: Liver Disease / Hepatitis
Also Included In: Immune System / Vaccines
Article Date: 02 May 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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CEL-SCI CORPORATION (Amex: CVM) announces that CEL-1000 alone increased the immune response against hepatitis B antigen, and that the combination of CEL-1000 with MAS-1, a proprietary water-in-oil adjuvant delivery system owned by Mercia Pharma, induced highly significant increases in specific anti-HBV (hepatitis B virus) antibodies. These findings were presented by Dr. Daniel Zimmerman, Senior Vice President of Research, Cellular Immunology at CEL-SCI at the 10th Annual Conference of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases in Baltimore, Maryland.

This new finding with CEL-1000 may have broad application for the enhancement of immune responses by individuals who have a poor immune response to vaccinations. It also has application for antigen sparing (reducing the amount/dose of antigen) required for protective immunity, and application to biodefense and pandemic settings for anti-infectious vaccines.

Dr. Zimmerman said, "A good number of people, a great majority of them middle aged and older men, vaccinated against Hepatitis B fail to generate high enough levels of antibodies to be considered protected. These individuals need and deserve a better level of protection."

CEL-1000 has previously been shown to be protective in animal challenge studies against viruses and unrelated diseases, specifically herpes simplex virus, viral encephalitis and malaria. CEL-1000 appears to activate innate (very early stage) and Th1 type (cellular) immune responses to induce a broad- spectrum protection against infection in animal models. The innate immune system is generally accepted to be the first line of defense against infectious agents.

CEL-1000, derived from the beta chain of human MHC-II, is a modified version of a human immune-based protein known to bind to both human and mouse immune cells and appears to act by enhancing the host's protective immune response. More information on CEL-1000 is available at http://www.cel-sci.com.

CEL-SCI Corporation is developing new immune system based treatments for cancer and infectious diseases. The Company has operations in Vienna, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland. The Company's lead product Multikine(R) is cleared to enter a global Phase III clinical trial in advanced primary head and neck cancer patients in the U.S. and Canada. CEL-SCI's other products, which are currently in pre-clinical stage, have shown protection against a number of diseases in animal tests and are being tested against diseases associated with bio-defense and avian flu.

CEL-SCI Corporation
http://www.cel-sci.com

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