PharmAthene, Inc. (NYSE Amex: PIP), a biodefense company developing medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats, announced today that new data from the Company's Valortim® anthrax anti-toxin program were presented at the 8th Annual ASM Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting, held in Baltimore, Maryland, February 21-24, 2010.
The data were presented by Dr. Alan S. Cross, Professor of Medicine and Dr. Subhendu Basu, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland School of Medicine, in a poster presentation entitled Human Adaptive Immune Response to Bacillus Anthracis.
Valortim® is a fully human anti-toxin monoclonal antibody being developed for the prevention and treatment of inhalational anthrax. Preclinical studies suggest that Valortim® has the potential to provide protection against anthrax infection when administered prophylactically (prior to the emergence of symptoms of anthrax infection) and also may increase survival when administered therapeutically (once symptoms become evident).
Previous data presented by Drs. Cross and Basu have shown that in addition to inhibiting anthrax toxin, Valortim® appears to augment the immune system's ability to kill anthrax bacilli by enhancing the human dendritic cell response to a challenge with anthrax spores. These new data expand upon these observations by showing that Valortim® also enhances the human T cell response to B. anthracis. In addition to Valortim's established toxin-neutralizing function, which has been previously described, these studies indicate that it may also assist in enhancing the adaptive immune response to anthrax, which may lead to a reduction and clearance of the bacteria in the host organism.