ImmuneRegen, Hyperion study Viprovex for anthrax infection

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Oct. 20 - ImmuneRegen Biosciences announced Thursday that it will be working closely with Hyperion Biotechnology Inc. on new tests of Viprovex as a treatment for anthrax infection.

In a company news release, officials said the purpose of the tests is to see if the immune-stimulant will reduce the mortality rate of an active infection of pulmonary anthrax.

Viprovex is a proprietary compound that has been found to reverse lung damage and stimulate suppressed or failing immune systems as a treatment for anthrax infection.

The tests also will look for efficacy of Viprovex as a preventative to pulmonary anthrax sickness, officials said.

The tests will be conducted by Hyperion Biotechnology, which has a research facility located on the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine campus in Brooks City-Base in San Antonio, Texas.

ImmuneRegen officials said past research suggest that Viprovex plays an important role during early responses of the lungs to a variety of substances, and blocks the inflammatory cascade that leads to the destruction of lung tissue. Officials said they hope it has a similar effect combating anthrax spores.

"Even the inhalation of very small numbers of anthrax spores can be deadly because once the spores mature in the lungs, they start producing toxins that destroy the body's ability to combat the infection," Michael Wilhelm, co-founder and chief executive officer of ImmuneRegen, said in the release.

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based ImmuneRegen, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IR Biosciences Holdings, Inc., is a biotechnology company focused on the development of a family of countermeasures for multiple homeland security threats, including chemical agents, Acute Radiation Sickness from a dirty bomb or nuclear disaster and infectious disease/biological warfare scenarios.

Hyperion is a small biotechnology company dedicated to finding innovative medical solutions for the 21st century war fighter, the company said.

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