-- AltaRex Technology Also Presented at SMi Vaccine Conference --
WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
AltaRex Corp. (TSE: AXO, OTC: ALXFF.PK) announced today that the Company will
present a poster at the Society for Biological Therapy (SBT) tomorrow
regarding in vitro laboratory data demonstrating OvaRex(R) MAb enhancement of
induction of killer T cells. SBT is an international forum for scientists to
present new data investigating immunotherapy, biological therapy and immune
monitoring. The Company will also make a presentation today at the SMi
Conference on Vaccines in London providing further detail on the potential use
of AltaRex antibodies to activate, inactivate, or switch immune responses to
treat cancer, infectious disease, allergy and autoimmune disease.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000831/ALTREXLOGO )
At SBT, Hubert Eng, Ph.D., Senior Scientist at AltaRex, will highlight new
laboratory data from in vitro studies of OvaRex(R) MAb where ovarian tumor
cells were induced to undergo apoptosis by irradiation or with
chemotherapeutic drugs and then were either fed to HLA-matched immature
dendritic cells (DC) or first incubated with OvaRex(R) prior to loading.
Necrotic tumor cells were used as a control. The studies measured both CTL
activity and intracellular interferon-gamma staining as evidence of tumor
killing, and results were:
-- Apoptotic but not necrotic tumor cells, presented by DC, activated CTL;
-- Apoptotic cells induced by chemotherapy were more effective than
irradiation in inducing CTL;
-- Taxol(R) and doxorubicin in combination with OvaRex(R) resulted in the
greatest increase in CTL activity compared to chemotherapy-treated
cells alone;
-- CTL killed target cells expressing CA125 and MHC class I;
-- Apoptotic cells coated with OvaRex(R) were more potent activators of
CTL than apoptotic cells alone.
At the SMi Vaccine Conference, Birgit Schultes, Ph.D., Executive Director
of Research at AltaRex, will provide an update on the Company's antibody-based
therapeutic vaccine approach and its application to cancer and other diseases.
More specifically, Dr. Schultes will highlight how an AltaRex antibody forms a
complex with circulating antigen and how these complexes can be processed
differently:
-- When targeting activating Fc receptors, activation of TH1 and CTL leads
to the breaking of tolerance to self-antigens in cancer and could also
be applied presumably to chronic viral infections like hepatitis, while
switching from a TH2 to TH1 type response could be developed as a novel
treatment for allergy and asthma;
-- When targeting to inhibitory Fc receptors, the immune response could be
inactivated, extending the technology in a fundamentally different way
to autoimmune diseases such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Schultes will also review the OvaRex(R) immunological and clinical
findings in metastatic ovarian cancer as proof of concept for the broad
applicability of the Company's technology. And finally she will summarize
ongoing and planned experiments by AltaRex and with others exploring the
administration of immune complexes, synergistic effects from loading dendritic
cells with complexes, and the targeting of new cancer antigens including early
stage disease targets like human carcinoma antigen.
"While the Company is more readily identified with its late stage product,
OvaRex(R) for ovarian cancer, we have developed an in-house dendritic cell
model that can determine which antibody, as an antibody-antigen complex, can
best induce or alter biological responses, particularly T cell responses,"
commented Richard Bagley, President & CEO of AltaRex. "In the presentations,
we are reporting on how we have extended our multi-epitopic immune response
approach to a multi-antigenic immune response by forming immune complexes with
apoptotic tumor cells resulting from chemotherapy. We are also highlighting
how we could further determine whether our immune complexes either mature
dendritic cells to activate immunity or induce regulatory T cells that alter
the immune response. This suggests that we can establish additional proof of
principle within and outside of the cancer field without extensive manpower or
financial resources. At this time we are seeking to engage academia,
government agencies and companies for possible early stage research
collaboration."
Additional information about AltaRex Corp. can be found on the Company
website at http://www.altarex.com.
This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from
the statements made. For this purpose, any statements that are contained
herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-
looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words "believes,"
"anticipates," "plans," "intends," "expects" and similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to our need for capital; the risk that the
Company can not raise funds on a timely basis on satisfactory terms or at all;
the need to obtain and maintain corporate alliances, such as the alliance with
United Therapeutics, and the risk that the Company cannot establish corporate
alliances on a timely basis, on satisfactory terms, or at all; changing market
conditions; uncertainties regarding the timely and successful completion of
clinical trials and patient enrollment rates, uncertainty of pre-clinical,
retrospective, early and interim clinical trial results, which may not be
indicative of results that will be obtained in ongoing or future clinical
trials; whether the Company and/or its collaborators will file for regulatory
approval on a timely basis; uncertainties as to when, if at all, the FDA and
other similar regulatory agencies will accept or approve regulatory filings
for the Company's products; the need to establish and scale-up manufacturing
processes, uncertainty as to the timely development and market acceptance of
the Company's products; the risk that the claims allowed under any issued
patent owned or licensed by the Company will not be sufficiently broad to
protect the Company's technology, that any patents issued to the Company will
not be sustained if challenged in court proceedings or otherwise or that third
parties will be able to develop products or processes that do not infringe
valid patents owned or licensed by the Company, and other risks detailed from
time-to-time in the Company's filings with the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission and Canadian securities authorities. The Company does not
assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
THE TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE HAS NOT APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED OF THE
INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN
Contact:
Trudy Chimko
Corporate Communications
(781) 672-0138
investor@altarex.com
SOURCE AltaRex Corp.
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Related links:
http://www.altarex.com
Photo Notes:
NewsCom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000831/ALTREXLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 212-782-2840
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/gh/cnoc/comp/128163.html
CONTACT:
Trudy Chimko, Corporate Communications of
AltaRex, +1-781-672-0138, investor@altarex.com
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