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In addition, Dr. John C. Bell, Chief Scientific Officer, delivered apresentation at the same conference, on Thursday, May 29, 2008, entitled"Oncolytic Virus Therapies of Cancer." In a third presentation by Jennerex Rand D leaders, Dr. Kirn delivered a presentation on Jennerex productdevelopment entitled "Design and Development of Targeted and Armed OncolyticPoxviruses, a Novel Therapeutic Class."
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This follows on Jennerex's recent announcement that Phase I clinical trialresults from its first-in-class lead product JX-594 were published in thepremier journal Lancet Oncology. The majority of these end-stage patientswith solid tumors had objective tumor destruction and responses followingtreatment with the cancer biotherapeutic. Half of the JX-594-treated patientssurvived for more than eight months, well beyond their life expectancies ofthree to four months, and four patients with tumor responses survived for11 to over 18 months. Results were especially promising for liver and lungcancer patients. Importantly, treatment with JX-594 was shown to bewell-tolerated. A Phase II clinical trial is now underway for JX-594 in livercancer. The world-wide liver cancer market is estimated at over one billiondollars per year.
About JX-594
JX-594 is a cancer biotherapeutic, currently in Phase II trials, from aproprietary class of targeted and armed oncolytic poxviruses. Tumordestruction and safety was shown in patients with diverse cancer types inthree Phase I trials; treated patients were end-stage and had no effectivetherapies available. JX-594 multiplies selectively within cancer cells,leading to their destruction. These newly created copies of JX-594 are thenreleased and are able to infect and eradicate other tumor cells both locallyand in distant sites in the body. This cycle of JX-594 replication, cancercell destruction, release and spread is then repeated. Normal cells are notaffected by JX-594 resulting in safety and tolerability. The poxvirus strainbackbone of JX-594 has been used safely in millions of people as part of aworldwide vaccination program against smallpox. This strain naturally targetscancer cells due to common genetic defects in cancer cells. JX-594 wasengineered to enhance this natural safety and cancer-selectivity by deletingits thymidine kinase (TK) gene, thus making it dependent on the cellular TKexpressed at persistently high levels in cancer cells. To enhance productefficacy, JX-594 is also engineered to express the GM-CSF protein. GM-CSFcomplements the cancer cell lysis work of the product candidate, leading to acascade of events resulting in tumor necrosis, tumor vasculature shutdown andan anti-tumoral immune attack.
About Jennerex
Jennerex is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on thedevelopment and commercialization of first-in-class, breakthrough targetedoncolytic products for cancer. The company's lead product JX-594, currently inan international Phase II trial for primary liver cancer, demonstratedpromising Phase I efficacy and safety results in patients with a diverse arrayof common large market cancers. Jennerex's products target, attack anderadicate cancers through a novel and potent oncolytic mechanism that isdepend
