ProHealth.com
by Source: Brussels PRNewswire
January 1, 1999
BRUSSELS, Belgium, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- R.E.D. Laboratories NV, a privately held Belgian biotechnology company, announced today that it is expanding its research collaboration with Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc. in the U.S. to develop and commercialize diagnostic tests for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and other chronic immune and viral diseases.
Since opening its clinical laboratory in February of this year, R.E.D. has seen a dramatic increase in the demand for its CFS testing services especially in Europe. The Company's testing platform is based on the measurement of an abnormal form of the protein RNase L, an antiviral enzyme found in the white blood cells of CFS patients, first discovered in 1996 by Dr. Robert Suhadolnik of Temple University. Research data indicates a high degree of correlation between levels of the abnormal protein and the severity of the disease. R.E.D. believes that its collaboration with Hemispherx, the industry leader in therapy for CFS, will fully define the importance of RNase L as the critical diagnostic marker for CFS.
Ampligen(R) Hemispherx's flagship drug, is currently in a nationwide Phase III clinical trial for patients with CFS. Although no drug has yet received final approval by the FDA as a treatment for CFS, R.E.D. stated that they fully expect the results of their expanded collaboration to provide further momentum in the Ampligen drug approval process.
Dr. C.V. Herst, Managing Director of R.E.D. Laboratories, said that he was ready to step up the Company's joint effort with Hemispherx to fully validate the test as both a diagnostic and prognostic marker for CFS in patients considering Ampligen therapy.
CFS is a global disease. In the U.S., over 500,000 Americans are afflicted with CFS, a fact reported in a Centers For Disease Control publication dated in 1995. A Harvard University study performed that same year estimated the number to be much higher, with nearly 2.5 million suffering from CFS.
Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc., with headquarters in Philadelphia, PA, is a pharmaceutical company engaged in the manufacture and global clinical development of new drug entities in the nucleic acid (NA) class for chronic viral diseases and disorders of the immune system including CFS, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
R.E.D. Laboratories NV is a biotechnology company established in 1997 with funding from Quandra Invest, the venture capital group of the Gemeentekrediet Bank, a member of the Dexia Banking group, one of the 20 largest banks in Europe.
|
|
