Aphios and ITC/Immune Technology to Collaborate on Natural
Therapeutic for Chronic Hepatitis C
June
20, 2001
— Aphios Corporation
(“Aphios”) and ITC/Immune Technology (“ITC”) today announced
a worldwide, exclusive collaboration to develop, manufacture,
and commercialize a natural therapeutic for Hepatitis C
patients. Under the agreement, Aphios and ITC will pool
their scientific resources and intellectual property, and
share all costs and revenues associated with research, development
and marketing of the natural Hepatitis C therapeutic. Financial
terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Chronic viral hepatitis C is a major
public health concern, and a source of significant morbidity
and mortality. The World Health Organization puts the global
incidence of Hepatitis C at 170 million people infected.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates
that there are about three million chronically infected
individuals in the United States. Without effective intervention
for Hepatitis C (HCV), the CDC has predicted that the death
toll will triple by the year 2010 and exceed the number
of U.S. deaths due to AIDS. Viral Hepatitis C is one of
the most common causes of two fatal diseases: cirrhosis
and hepatocellular carcinoma. The global HCV marketplace
is estimated to be greater than $3.4 billion. At this time,
there is no ideal treatment for chronic hepatitis C nor
an effective immunoprophylaxis.
Dr. Trevor Castor, President and Chief Executive Officer
of Aphios Corporation stated, “We are excited to be collaborating
with ITC to advance our natural therapeutic research efforts
in the area of Hepatitis C. ITC has extensive medical and
indigenous expertise in the use of Eastern herbs for treating
Hepatitis C, making them an ideal partner to expedite the
development time and eventual commercial success of any
product resulting from the collaboration. By pooling our
collective resources, we believe this collaboration will
allow us to make a truly significant discovery effort in
the field.”
“This collaboration with Aphios is a unique opportunity
to work with a scientific team at the forefront of natural
therapeutic products research and development. In addition
to their broad-based capabilities in the isolation of natural
medicines, Aphios has the infectious disease capabilities
and facilities to conduct these types of studies,” said
ITC Chief Executive Officer, Marc Nehamkin. “We are very
excited about the insights our researchers have gained into
the natural herbal treatment for chronic Hepatitis C and
look forward to contributing these insights to this collaborative
endeavor.”
Aphios Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company that
is developing enhanced therapeutics for health maintenance
and the treatment of human diseases with a focus on CNS,
cancer, and infectious diseases. Aphios Corporation has
developed several enabling technology platforms for improving
the discovery, manufacturing, delivery and safety of therapeutic
drugs. The Company is headquartered at 3-E Gill Street,
Woburn, Massachusetts 01801, USA, tel: (781) 932-6933, fax:
(781) 932-6865.
ITC/Immune
Technology is an innovative research and development company
focused on the discovery of promising natural treatments
for HIV infection, Chronic Hepatitis, Liver Cirrhosis and
COPD/asthma. Other promising research includes treatments
for Crohn's disease and in microcirculation enhancement.
ITC/Immune Technology is headquartered at 96 North Third
Street, San Jose, California 95112, USA, tel: (408) 292-7000,
fax: (408) 292-7050.
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