RedOrbit News, March 1, 2006 — Enzo said Wednesday it has been OK'd by a California university to continue stem-cell research on an HIV treatment.
The company said its subsidiary Enzo Therapeutics has been given the go-ahead from the University of California at San Francisco's Committee on Human Research to continue its study of its StealthVector HGTV43 in HIV-infected patients.
Enzo said the study of its gene contract, or viral vector, to treat for HIV-1 infection has been modified to increase the number of stem cells that engraft in the patient's bone marrow.
A viral vector is a genetically engineered virus that has had its RNA removed and replaced with a therapeutic gene. The vector is then introduced into the body and the virus invades the cell, thereby introducing the therapeutic gene into the cell.
Enzo said its study, set to start shortly, will use the StealthVector HGTV43 to deliver three antisense or HIV-1-resistant genes — engineered to interfere with the growth of HIV-1 — into the study patients' blood stem cells.
Researchers expect these gene-infused stem cells to replicate and become CD4(plus) T-cells, the main target of HIV-1.
By partially reducing the patients' natural blood stem cells before introducing the genetically altered blood stem cells, the researchers are testing to see if the stem cells infused with the HIV-resistant gene can produce enough CD4(plus) cells to prevent a patient's HIV infection from developing into AIDS.
Enzo said its phase 1 study of the process showed that the engineered stem cells were able to survive long term in the body and to produce a low number of CD4(plus) cells containing the HIV-resistant genes. Although that study suggested no increase in the CD4(plus) cell count nor a decrease in the HIV viral load, the yield of engineered cells has remained approximately constant over a number of years, Enzo noted.
In fact, in one patient, the HIV- resistant cell yield held steady for as long as five years, demonstrating that stable engraftment of anti-HIV-1 antisense, RNA-producing blood stem cells occurred and continued to function, the company said.
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http://www.redorbit.com/news/display/?id=411476
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