CARLSBAD, Calif., April 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
The Immune Response Corporation (Nasdaq: IMNR) announced today that it
received a $100,000 milestone payment from NovaRx Corporation, a privately
held San Diego company and the exclusive licensee of one of the Company's
issued patents in the field of cancer vaccines. The milestone payment was
triggered when NovaRx enrolled the first patient in a Phase II clinical trial
using an experimental cancer vaccine in individuals with lung cancer. Under
the terms of the License Agreement dated June 4, 1997 between the parties, the
Company is also eligible to receive milestone payments for initiation of
Phase III trials and product licensure, in addition to a royalty on product
sales. The Immune Response Corporation also owns an equity stake in NovaRx,
received as partial consideration for the exclusive license.
NovaRx is conducting the Phase II study in collaboration with the Hoag
Cancer Center in Newport Beach, California. The cell-based vaccine under
study contains established non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines that have
been genetically modified to express an antisense DNA molecule which binds to
the gene producing Transforming Growth Factor B (TGF-Beta), thus preventing
its expression. TGF-Beta is a potent immune suppressive cytokine produced by
several types of cancer cells, including lung cancer.
"It is very satisfying to have one of the out-licensed technologies from
our cancer vaccine program advance into mid-stage clinical development by one
of our corporate partners," said Richard Bartholomew, Ph.D., Executive
Director of Research Operations for The Immune Response Corporation. "We are
hopeful that under the leadership and direction of Dr. Habib Fakhrai, NovaRx
will continue to successfully develop this technology into a viable treatment
for patients suffering from lung cancer."
The Immune Response Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company based in
Carlsbad, California, developing immune-based therapies to induce specific
T-cell responses for the treatment of HIV, autoimmune diseases and cancer. In
addition, the Company is developing a targeted non-viral delivery technology
for gene therapy, which is designed to enable the delivery of genes directly
to the liver via intravenous injection. NOTE: Company information can also be
located on the Internet Web site: http://www.imnr.com
This news release contains forward-looking statements. Actual results
could vary materially from those expected due to a variety of risk factors,
including, but not limited to, whether clinical trials will be successfully
concluded and whether technology exclusively licensed to NovaRx will be
approved for marketing or be successfully commercialized. Those factors are
discussed more thoroughly in The Immune Response Corporation's SEC filings,
including but not limited to its report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2001 and subsequent Forms 10-Q. The Company undertakes no
obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to these forward-
looking statements, which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after
the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
SOURCE The Immune Response Corporation
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Related links:
http://www.imnr.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/434675.html
CONTACT:
Investors, Kathy Lane of The Immune Response
Corporation, +1-760-771-2236
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