Elusys

An article by Ron Bailey at Reason brought Elusys to my attention a few years back. They were a biotech research company with a novel idea.

On a whim, I checked out their website the other day to see how they were progressing. Huh. Things are just perking along. This news release was from late 2003. There's more if you care to look.

Elusys Therapeutics, Inc., today released data showing that its anthrax antibody, ETI-204, provided complete protection in animals that were exposed to aerosolized anthrax, the form most likely to be used in a terrorist attack. None of the animals given the affinity-enhanced antibody died in the 28-day study, which ended today, while all of the control animals died within 5 days.

The Elusys study was a placebo-controlled trial conducted by a specialized, independent laboratory in the Midwest to determine whether a single dose of ETI-204 would prevent death in rabbits in a model of inhalational anthrax, which is its most deadly form.

In the study group, ETI-204 was given intravenously to the animals immediately before exposure to a lethal dose of aerosolized anthrax. The control group received no drug. The study was initially planned for 14 days but the results were so encouraging that the study was extended to 28 days...

“What is particularly interesting is that the small dose we gave to the rabbits provided complete protection against the lethal spore challenge,” noted Leslie Casey, PhD, senior director of research at Elusys. “This tells us that ETI-204 seems to be particularly potent and effective.”

A previous 14-day study in mice found that ETI-204 prevented death from anthrax in all of the treated animals. All of the animals in the control group, which received no drug, died. Elusys also has evidence that the anthrax bacteria did not escape from the lung, the site of infection.

ETI-204 is an affinity enhanced, de-immunized antibody, which means that the ability of the antibody to bind to its target has been strengthened and that elements of the antibody that might cause an immune response have been removed. ETI-204 targets and binds to protective antigen, a central component of the anthrax toxins. By binding to protective antigen, ETI-204 prevents the toxins from binding to and entering the cells in the body, thereby preventing death.

Nice work.

posted by Justin on 07.10.05 at 01:42 AM





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