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Inspired by a pharmaceutical prototype to stop bovine viral diarrhea virus, Immtech reveals that one of their compounds may inhibit Hepatitis C's entry into human cells. Immtech Announces Results From Hepatitis C Discovery Program http://sev.prnewswire.com NEW YORK, June 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Immtech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AMEX: IMM announced today positive results against the hepatitis C virus (HCV) of a compound from its drug discovery portfolio. The prototype compound belongs to an expanding class of compounds that has previously demonstrated activity against a related surrogate virus, bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV). The compound was found to have significant activity against HCV under assay conditions designed to demonstrate inhibition of the virus entry process, using a newly available in vitro cell culture system that employs infectious and replicating virus.
Norman Abood, Ph.D., Sr. Vice President, Discovery Programs, stated, "We aim to develop a compound with a novel mechanism of action that is complementary to the currently recognized treatments of HCV. It appears that Immtech's class of compounds inhibits an early, non-replicative step in the virus life cycle, based upon our earlier work in BVDV. The majority of the industry's efforts have focused on programs to identify drug candidates, such as protease and polymerase inhibitors, which inhibit HCV virus replication. Our latest findings provide an approach that will allow us to potentially identify a drug candidate with a new and complementary mechanism of action." As of 2005 there were more than 11 million people living with hepatitis C in major markets around the world, and the sale of drugs to treat the disease, including treatments that are prescribed after a first course of treatment fails, was $3 billion. The HCV drug market is expected to expand to $9 billion in 2012 and to more than $10 billion annually by 2014. http://www.hepatitis-central.com
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