AVI BioPharma Publishes Prostate Cancer Results
PORTLAND, Ore. - July 22, 2003 - AVI BioPharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVII, AVIIW, AVIIZ), today announced publication of an article in the July issue of the peer-reviewed journal Clinical Cancer Research, volume 9, pages 2510-2519. The article presents data from two studies designed to evaluate AVI-4126 in prostate cancer. AVI-4126 is a NeuGene® antisense cancer drug targeting the oncogene c-myc. The overexpression of c-myc has been associated with uncontrolled cell proliferation in prostate and other cancers.
Researchers demonstrated the targeted specificity of AVI-4126 in a prostate cancer model by evaluating the nucleic acid sequence-specific inhibition of c-myc. A 75 percent to 80 percent reduction of the tumor also was observed in the prostate cancer model. In a separate Phase I safety trial, AVI-4126 produced no toxicity or serious adverse events in human subjects.
"We are very encouraged by these results," said Patrick L. Iversen, Ph.D., senior vice president of research and development at AVI. "The efficacy of AVI-4126 against human tumors in animal models, combined with the lack of toxicity in human studies, prepares us for future clinical studies with AVI-4126 for the treatment of cancer."
The article, titled "Efficacy of Antisense Morpholino Oligomer Targeted to c-myc in Prostate Cancer Xenograft Murine Model and a Phase I Safety Study in Humans," was written by AVI senior scientist Gayathri Devi, Dr. Iversen, and research assistant Carla London.
About AVI BioPharma
AVI BioPharma develops therapeutic products for the treatment of life-threatening diseases using two technology platforms: third-generation NeuGene antisense drugs and cancer immunotherapy. AVI's lead NeuGene antisense compound is designed to target cardiovascular restenosis, cancer, polycystic kidney disease and other cell proliferation disorders. In addition to targeting specific genes in the body, AVI's antiviral program uses NeuGene antisense compounds to target single-stranded RNA viruses, including West Nile virus, SARS coronavirus, calicivirus, and Hepatitis C. AVI's second technology, Avicine®, is a therapeutic cancer vaccine with late-stage trials planned for the treatment of pancreatic and colorectal cancer. More information about AVI is available on the company's Web site at http://www.avibio.com/.
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