Enrollment of patients for Phase I/IIa clinical study of Interleukin-7 commenced

Cytheris SA, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on research and development of new therapies for immune modulation, today announced that it has begun enrolling patients in its Phase I/IIa clinical program evaluating the company’s investigative immune-modulator, recombinant human Interleukin-7 (CYT107), in combination with standard antiviral treatment and vaccination in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B-infected (HBV) patients.

"Cytheris is currently conducting three clinical trials of CYT107 in chronic hepatitis C-infected patients in Europe and Asia," said Michel Morre, DVM, President and CEO of Cytheris, "and we are now pleased to initiate CONVERT in chronic hepatitis B infection here in Europe, underscoring our dedication to exploring new treatment options for the millions of patients throughout the world afflicted with these devastating viral infections."

“Though the most effective HBV antiviral drugs have shown a remarkable ability to rapidly drop HBV viral load, even with these powerful drugs the percentage of patients reaching HBsAg seroconversion -- the ultimate goal of therapy -- remains low,” said Christophe Hézode, MD, of the Department of Hepatology-Gastroenterology at Hospital Henri Mondor, Creteil, France, Principal Investigator and International Study Chairman for the trial. “This failure to cure the disease explains why investigators have tried to boost long-term immunological response through patient vaccination or immunomodulation, though these attempts have so far been insufficient to fully control the disease. It is our hope that combining IL-7 with an antiviral and a vaccine will ultimately result in the production of a protective and long lasting immune response against the HBV virus in a significant proportion of treated patients.”