HUDDINGE, Sweden, Oct. 29, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- This letter concerns the dissemination of the press release alpha HGA, new candidate drug against HIV from TRIPEP earlier this morning at 07:30 CET.
We made a mistake in the process of disseminating the release on behalf of TRIPEP and unfortunately you did receive the press release with wrong characters, ( ) and ?.
Please accept our sincerest apologies for the mistake.
For the record, please also note that we have enclosed the corrected release with this letter.
Best regards,
Tinna Hamberg, Waymaker AB
Tripep has identified the active component from GPG alpha HGA, new candidate drug against HIV.
The O-listed biotechnology company, Tripep AB (publ) in Huddinge, Sweden, has identified a completely new candidate drug against HIV. The new candidate drug has been named alpha HGA.
"This is a breakthrough. A totally new drug with a novel mechanism of action that will certainly increase therapeutic options for the treatment of HIV and AIDS and brings hope to people who are virus resistant to currently existing drugs", comments Professor William W. Hall, University College and S:t Vincent Hospital in Dublin and member of the Company's Scientific Advisory Board.
Tripep was formed in 1997 to evaluate the potential anti-HIV agent, GPG, which inhibited HIV in test-tube trials. Tests on humans with GPG were, however, a disappointment. Subsequently, Tripep has been able to demonstrate that GPG did not function in the clinical tests on humans because GPG must first be converted in the blood. Such a conversion does not occur in the blood of humans, but does in, for example, calf blood, which is normally added in test-tube trials. Conversion results in an active substance that inhibits the replication of HIV. This was the reason that GPG only functioned in test-tube trials with the addition of calf blood, but not in the trials that only used human blood.
Tripep has now determined the chemical structure of the active substance, in co-operation with researchers at the Karolinska Institute at Huddinge University Hospital, Stockholm, researchers at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, and the Rega Institute in Belgium. The substance, which is a small molecule, is called alpha HGA. With the help of the organic chemical synthesis company Chemilia, Tripep has developed a method for chemically producing alpha HGA. In test-tube tests without the addition of calf blood, i.e., in trials only using the blood of humans, the chemically produced alpha HGA inhibits the replication of HIV, which GPG does not under equivalent conditions. alpha HGA has a mechanism of action which is completely different from any other of the drugs currently on the market. This means that the agent will also be effective on those who have developed resistance against currently used drugs.
Tripep's Chairman, Rolf L. Nordstrom, is very pleased: "The result shows that it was correct to explore the knowledge generated through the work with GPG and vindicates Tripep's researchers".
"The development work with Tripep's new candidate drug alpha HGA will now be concentrated on preparing the agent for clinical tests on humans", says the company's Head of Research, Professor Anders Vahlne.
For more information, please contact:
Anders Vahlne, Head of Research, Tripep AB Tel: +46 8-5858 1313, mobile phone: +46 0709-28 05 28 E-mail: anders.vahlne@labmed.ki.se
Tripep is a biotechnology research company that develops and commercialises candidate drugs based on patented technologies. Its main focuses are: research and development of an HIV-inhibiting drug, preclinical research focusing on the development of therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines against HIV and Hepatitis C, and the RAS(R) technology platform.
For more details of the company's technologies, please refer to the company's web site at www.tripep.se
This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net
The following files are available for download:
http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/10/29/20031028BIT01410/wkr0001.doc
http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/10/29/20031028BIT01410/wkr0002.pdf
http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/10/29/20031028BIT01410/wkr0003.ppt
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