PharmaFrontiers acquires autologous T cell vaccine rights for rheumatoid arthritis

By Ted A. Knutson

Washington, Jan. 17 - PharmaFrontiers Corp. announced Tuesday it has acquired an exclusive worldwide license for the intellectual property rights and research results of an autologous T cell vaccine for rheumatoid arthritis from the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences (SIBS), Chinese Academy of Sciences of the People's Republic of China.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that more than 2 million adults in the United States have rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease. Spending in the United States on the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is projected to grow to $9.5 billion annually by 2013, according to Decision Resources, an independent research firm focused on the pharmaceutical industry.

The SIBS' initial human clinical trial results indicate that T cell vaccination induces immune responses that correlate with clinical improvements measured as reductions in ACR50 -American College Rheumatology criteria, which measures joint swelling and tenderness and other factors such as pain and disability - and reductions in rheumatoid arthritis laboratory parameters.

"We believe that the manufacturing and clinical information obtained through this license will allow us to develop and submit an Investigational New Drug Application in the near future," said Jim C. Williams, Ph.D., chief operating officer of PharmaFrontiers, in a news release.

The Woodlands, Texas-based PharmaFrontiers' strategy is to develop and commercialize cell therapies to treat several major disease areas such as cardiac and pancreatic conditions and Multiple Sclerosis.

© 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.