ANTISENSE REQUESTS TYSABRI TRADING HALT
August 6th 2008 08:53
Monday August 4, 2008
Daily news on ASX-listed biotechnology companies
* ASX DOWN, BIOTECHS EVEN: HEARTWARE UP 8%, PEPLIN DOWN 6%
* ANTISENSE REQUESTS TYSABRI TRADING HALT
* USCOM SAYS JOURNAL STUDY BACKS USE IN PAEDIATRIC EMERGENCY
* SANOFI-AVENTIS SUCCESS TAKES UNILIFE HQ TO PENNSYLVANIA
* FORTREND PROVIDES $5m FACILITY TO IM MEDICAL
* BIO-MELBOURNE WORKSHOPS BIG DEALS WITH CSL, GSK, WYETH
* COGSTATE ONE-FOR-10 RIGHTS ISSUE
* NUSEP DIRECTOR DR CHOON LEE RESIGNS
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ANTISENSE
Antisense has requested a trading halt pending an announcement regarding “news relating to another company’s multiple sclerosis drug”.
On July 31 and August 1, 2008, Biogen Idec and Elan Corp notified regulatory agencies of two confirmed cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) in multiple sclerosis patients treated with Tysabri.
Antisense has previously been affected by Tysabri news because its RNA-interference drug partnered with Teva Pharmaceuticals ATL/TV1102 acts on the same target as Tysabri, the protein ligand VLA-4 (lymphocyte ligand very late antigen-4).
Antisense chief executive officer Mark Diamond told Biotech Daily that the mechanism by which Tysabri caused progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy was not known.
He said that in 2005 Tysabri was withdrawn following three earlier reported cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy and the common target led to a delay to Antisense’s clinical trial program.
Mr Diamond said that since Tysabri use was allowed, more than 32,000 patients had received the drug with just two further reported cases.
Biogen said it received confirmation of the diagnoses of two European Union patients following the detection of John Cunningham virus DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid.
The first patient has received Tysabri monotherapy for 17 months and is clinically stable and ambulatory at home.
The second patient had a history of prior disease modifying therapies including azathioprine and beta-interferons and had Tysabri monotherapy for 14 months. This patient is currently hospitalized.
Mr Diamond said his company’s antisense drug was “very different” from the Tysabri monoclonal antibody. “These are very different circumstances compared to 2005,” Mr Diamond said. “The drugs have very different features.”
Trading will resume on August 6, 2008 or on an earlier announcement.
Antisense last traded at 6.9 cents.
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