PharmAthene and Medarex Announce $1 Million Congressional Appropriation for Development of Anthrax Therapeutic Valortim

16-Oct-2006

Medarex, Inc. and PharmAthene, Inc. announced that the FY 2007 Department of Defense (DoD) appropriations law includes $1.0 million payable to PharmAthene to support ongoing development of Valortim(TM), an investigational fully human monoclonal antibody being developed for the prevention and treatment of anthrax infection. Valortim was generated by Medarex's UltiMAb Human Antibody Development System(R). This is the second consecutive year in which PharmAthene has received funding for further study of Valortim.

Findings of preclinical studies describing the activity of Valortim against anthrax infection were published recently in the October 2006 issue of the journal Infection and Immunity. These findings show that the three-way interaction between Valortim, anthrax protective antigen and Fc receptors (FcR) on macrophage and dendritic cells appears to result in an efficient and potent neutralization of the toxin complex, and this mechanism has not been previously described in studies of other known anthrax neutralizing antibodies. Importantly, the ability to take advantage of this FcR interaction is also found in the protective serum raised in individuals after vaccination with effective anthrax vaccines. These data suggest that the FcR interaction is a characteristic shared by Valortim and optimal natural immune responses raised by vaccination. The companies believe that the FcR interaction may contribute to Valortim's potency and durability of protection seen in the animal studies.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/58627/pharmathene-and-medarex-announce-1-million-congressional-appropriation-for-development-of-anthrax-therapeutic-valortim.html