Contacts: Patricia Dimond, Ph.D., 508-270-2374, or
Cheryl Greenhouse, 617-252-7785
Genzyme Transgenics, NCI Sign CRADA to Expand Cancer Vaccine Trials FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- Genzyme Transgenics Corp. announced today that it has signed a five-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to expand research and development activities related to idiotypic cancer vaccines.
This agreement expands phase I clinical trials currently in progress at NCI . Under the terms of the CRADA, Genzyme Transgenics will have licensing rights to the idiotypic vaccines being developed in collaboration with the NCI.
Idiotypic vaccines contain proteins derived from individual patient tumors or from specific types of tumors. In the phase I trials, the vaccines are being administered after chemotherapy to patients suffering from B-cell lymphoma, a cancer characterized by tumors in the lymph nodes, and multiple myeloma, a type of cancer in which tumors appear in the bone marrow. The vaccines have shown early promise in extending clinical remission. Genzyme Transgenics has produced idiotypic vaccines for the NCI for four years.
Under the terms of the CRADA, Genzyme Transgenics will optimize and expand the vaccine production process, thereby making this form of therapy -- once it has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- available to more patients than is currently possible. This year, the company plans to fund an expansion of the phase I clinical trial in patients with low-grade follicular B-cell lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and other types of lymphatic cancers. These cancers affect about 50,000 new patients annually in the United States.
"This program builds on Genzyme Transgenics' broad-based preclinical testing experience and our expertise in pharmaceutical development and production," said James A. Geraghty, president and chief executive officer of Genzyme Transgenics. "NCI's experience in the treatment of B-cell lymphomas using the idiotype approach allows us to create a system to provide the benefits of this unique therapy to a broad number of patients."
Edison Liu, M.D., director of the division of clinical sciences at NCI said, "I'm very excited about the Genzyme Transgenics/NCI collaboration as a model of government-industry interaction that may lead to better treatment for cancer patients."
Genzyme Transgenics is engaged in the application of transgenic technology to enable the development and production of recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies for medical uses. The company's contract research organization businesses provide non-clinical development and testing services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and other companies. # # #
Genzyme Transgenics' releases are on the World Wide Web at http://www.genzyme.com. They are also available from Genzyme's fax-on-demand service at 1-800-436-1443 within the United States or 1-201-521-1080 outside the United States.
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