Peregrine advances study of Tarvacin to treat influenza, including avian flu

E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Oct. 24 - Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. said Monday that it is continuing to evaluate its unique anti-phospholid agent Tarvacin Anti-Viral for the treatment of influenza and is specifically looking at whether it might work against avian flu.

In a company news release, company officials said they are collaborating with the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to assess Tarvacin Anti-Viral in preclinical flu models, and working directly with academic research centers and private research organizations to evaluate Tarvacin as a stand-alone agent and in combination with existing influenza treatments.

Peregrine also has entered into discussions with other federal officials to evaluate the potential to use Tarvacin as a treatment for avian flu, company officials said.

"Given current global concerns about the possibility of an avian flu pandemic, we are rapidly identifying and assessing a number of opportunities to ramp up our existing collaborations with public and private sector partners to further accelerate these studies," Steven King, president and chief executive officer, said in the release.

The anti-viral drug currently is in a phase I clinical trial for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

Tarvacin is a monoclonal antibody that attaches to phospholipids, specific cellular components exposed on the outer surface of all enveloped viruses tested to date including influenza, as well as on the human host cells that are infected with these viruses.

Unlike drugs that target an attribute of the virus, Tarvacin's host-derived phospholid target is expected to be less susceptible to the development of drug resistance since the virus cannot simply mutate to avoid the drug's anti-viral effects.

The Tustin, Calif.-based company said it outlined its Tarvacin programs Monday at its annual stockholders meeting.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.