POZ Community Forums
Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Research News & Studies => Topic started by: joko on July 25, 2008, 04:02:39 pm
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I posted about the Virxsys conference call yesterday and was curious whether anyone else happened to listen in, and if so, what their thoughts were. For whatever reason, my post has been moved and now is buried under the heading "John2038's Research News" - which appears to be some sort of catch all topic. ??? Anyone else listen to the call?
FYI, my thoughts on the call was that it was quite positive. There sounded to be a few unanswered questions, but to my layperson ear, Dr. Carl June's comments in particular were quite encouraging.
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I listened in on the conference call beginning at 11:20am. I missed the first twenty minutes because of a client in my office. I agree with your assessment of what was presented. Exciting would be an understatement. Lets hope the "pivotal trial in the fall of this year" allows them to get the "conditional approval" they, and we, are wanting to see happen. It was truly the most heartening news I've heard in a long long time. It is wise to take overexuberant hype with a grain of salt at each new development. But, the silence here about the telecast is deafening. Good or bad...did anyone else listen or watch? Certainly, there are some experts on board who would like to share their opinions. Not to worry, I have my salt shaker nearby!
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messer: Thanks for your reply. In fact, you didn't miss a thing. Despite their plan to begin at 11:00, the call didn't get going until around at least 11:15. Being conservative by nature, I'm not prone to hyperbole, overhyped expectations, or excessive irrational exuberance :D. That said, it was encouraging.
I was actually hoping to see some devil's advocate positions on here from people with far more scientific wherewithal than me, but you're correct; the silence has been deafening!
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Nelson from the body.com wrote:
Martin
Yes, I was on the call. Very exciting data. VIRxSYS has done some small phase I and II studies infusing CD4 cells that contain a lentivirus "vector" (inactivated virus) called VRX496 that is derived from HIV-1 itself but has the disease-causing elements removed. VIRxSYS used this vector to deliver RNA antisense targeting the HIV envelope and observed that VRX496 appeared to cause wild type HIV particles to lose their envelopes. Additionally, the in vivo pressure delivered by a patient's own modified cells led to impaired and less replicative virions (making the virus crippled.) Treatment with VRX496 appeared to have a measurable effect on the replicative fitness of HIV for up to three years following just one infusion. I was impressed by the CD4 cell count increase in some patients after a few weeks of an infusion.
They have an issue that they need to address. Measuring viral load is not very accurate since it does not tell you what viruses are "crippled" and which ones are infectious. So they will probably develop a test to determine that. Also, there was a question asked by our immune bazsed treatment activist Richard Jeffrey about the quality of the CD4 cells and if they were actually a product of the newly infused cells.
I am very excited about this and other gene therapy products being researched right now. We are about to enter a "dry period" in new oral drug approvals, but it seems that we are now entering a new era of immune based therapies. I really think the answer to controlling this disease is in this area. Of course, I am following it closely since I have multi-drug resistance.
I wish VIRxSYS a lot of success. We need this kind of therapies!
Thanks for the question
Nelson
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Is there a transcript or a recording (I unsuccessfully tried YouTube) anywhere, please?
Thank you!
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Hello.
Very heartening to hear this reasoned endorsement from one of "The Body" experts.
Auspoz
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leit: I'll see what I can do by giving VIRxSYS a call on Monday. I did ask the conf call provider but unfortunately they did not record it.
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leit: I'll see what I can do by giving VIRxSYS a call on Monday.
Thank you!!! :)
I did ask the conf call provider but unfortunately they did not record it.
What a pity!
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Lets hope the "pivotal trial in the fall of this year" allows them to get the "conditional approval" they, and we, are wanting to see happen.
Interesting news. Sorry if this is a stupid question (I'm obviously not a medical or FDA regulations expert, and I missed out on the conference call), but, if this pivotal trial yields strong results, what exactly would the "conditional approval" be for? Would it be for additional, larger studies or for actual clinical use?
Thanks for the clarification!
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In the context of the results of the ongoing phase 2 trials and what was being discussed, I took it to mean they would ask for "conditional approval" to be for clinical use or distribution while the VIRXSYS496 continues to be tested in clinical trials.
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Is there somewhere we can access a recording of this call or does anyone have the name of the published material, authors etc?
Cheers
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As mentioned above, the conference call provider does not have a link or a recording. This morning I emailed one of the call's two primary participants, Gary McGarrity, PhD, Executive Vice President for Scientific Affairs, VIRxSYS to see if I could get a recording. When I hear back from him, I'll post it.
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Anna, one other thing. The other person on the call was Dr. Carl June, MD, Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, who, although while certainly actively involved with this project, disclosed at the onset that he has no paid position or financial stake in VIRxSYS. The reason I mention Dr. June is because if you Google VRX496 and Carl June or VIRxSYS and Carl June you will come up with some of his past comments on this technology.
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thanks very much joko I might try e-mailing the Dr and seeing if he can send me some stuff
:)