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News and Events > News Release
Contact: Lindsay Polak
Technology Transfer Office
University of Colorado
(303) 735-5518
lindsay.polak@cu.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CU Expands Promising Partnership with Immune Therapeutics Company
Progress to Date on Licensed HIV/AIDS Technology Leads to New Rights
Azusa, California; June 10, 2008. Viral Genetics (Pinksheets: VRAL) subsidiary V-Clip Pharmaceuticals has expanded the existing Exclusive License Agreement with the University of Colorado by obtaining two Exclusive Option Agreements to acquire rights for treatment and detection of several forms of cancer including lung, breast, leukemia, and others, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, malaria and several other diseases using technology developed by Professor M. Karen Newell, PhD, who is the Clement and Margaret Merkert-endowed Professor of Biology at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. The existing Exclusive License Agreement was previously restricted to HIV/AIDS, Herpes, and Hepatitis C.
“This development stems directly from positive progress we are rapidly making in understanding our HIV/AIDS compound, TNP, through the collaboration with Professor Newell under the Exclusive License,” said Haig Keledjian, President of Viral Genetics and V-Clip. “We have made significant progress in locating the active ingredients in TNP and revealing how they have decreased patients’ HIV viral loads in our clinical trials. This information will substantially help us optimize our drug compound for upcoming clinical trials and lab studies, but also sheds new light on how the compound could help treat or detect other diseases – something we have long believed possible. We are continuing with our HIV/AIDS research, filing additional patents, and have started preparing an IND to be filed with the FDA for an HIV clinical trial.”
The first Exclusive Option Agreement covers multiple sclerosis and diabetes. The second Exclusive Option Agreement is for scleroderma, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Grave’s Disease, Addison’s Disease, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Hashimoto’s disease, Myasthenia Gravis, macular degeneration, lung cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, brain cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, melanoma, Lyme disease, sepsis, West Nile virus, malaria, tuberculosis, Varicella Zoster virus, flu virus, cytomegalovirus, and Epstein-Barr virus / mononucleosis. The specific terms of the options are confidential under the terms of the Option Agreements.
Viral Genetics is a biotechnology company that discovers and develops immune-based therapies using its thymus nuclear protein (“TNP”) compound. It’s first drug candidate using TNP, called VGV-1, has been studied in 6 human clinical trials for treatment of HIV/AIDS. V-Clip Pharmaceuticals is a subsidiary of Viral Genetics whose other shareholders include Professor Newell, the University of Colorado’s equity holding arm, and other individuals. V-Clip was formed to acquire the original Exclusive License Agreement rights, and Viral Genetics has the right to acquire it under certain terms and conditions.
In a 2005-2006 study, a reduction of HIV viral load was observed in a subset of patients after treatment with VGV-1 versus patients receiving placebo. As reported in the Company’s poster presentation at the 2006 XVI International AIDS Conference, VGV-1 treated subjects also demonstrated apparent beneficial immunological changes when compared with placebo.
The World Health Organization estimates approximately 40 million people are now living with HIV. Even with the available treatments for AIDS, there are large numbers of people that need alternative therapies and hope remains that progress will be made in discovering new therapies that bolster patients’ immune systems.
About the University of Colorado
The University of Colorado is a three-campus system with campuses in Boulder and Colorado Springs, and a Denver campus located in downtown Denver and at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora. CU is a premier teaching and research university, ranked sixth among public institutions in federal research expenditures by the National Science Foundation. Academic prestige is marked by CU’s four Nobel laureates, seven Mac Arthur “genius” Fellows, 18 astronauts, 19 Rhodes Scholars and CU-Boulder’s ranking of 11th best public university in the world by the Institute for Higher Education. For further information, please visit http://www.cu.edu.
About the Technology Transfer Office
The CU Technology Transfer Office pursues, protects, packages, and licenses to business the intellectual property generated from research at CU. The TTO provides assistance to faculty, staff, and students, as well as to businesses looking to license or invest in CU technology. For more information about technology transfer at CU, visit www.cu.edu/techtransfer.
About Viral Genetics
Viral Genetics, Inc. is a biotechnology company that discovers and develops immune-based therapies for HIV and AIDS using its thymus nuclear protein compound. This compound may have other potential applications for other infectious, autoimmune, and immunological deficiency diseases that the company intends to study in the future. Viral Genetics believes that VGV-1 represents a significant and unique approach to treating HIV due to the apparently novel mechanism, low toxicity profile, simple dosing regimen, and short-course of treatment. Online at www.viralgenetics.com
This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties associated with financial projections, budgets, milestone timelines, clinical development, regulatory approvals, and other risks described by Viral Genetics, Inc. from time to time in its periodic reports filed with the SEC. VGV-1 is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration or by any comparable regulatory agencies elsewhere in the world. While Viral Genetics believes that the forward-looking statements and underlying assumptions contained therein are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, including, but not limited to, the ability of Viral Genetics to establish the efficacy of VGV-1 in the treatment of any disease or health condition, the development of studies and strategies leading to commercialization of VGV-1 in the United States, the obtaining of funding required to carry out the development plan, the completion of studies and tests on time or at all, and the successful outcome of such studies or tests. Therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this release will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included herein, the forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by Viral Genetics or any other person that the objectives and plans of Viral Genetics will be achieved.
For additional information, please contact Viral Genetics at 626-334-5310.
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