PLANTATION,
FL -- January 17, 2002 -- Viragen, Inc. and Viragen International,
Inc. today announced the approval of its application to
Swedish regulatory authorities to expand the use of Viragen's
natural alpha interferon.
This
broadened approval extends use of the drug to include the
treatment of patients afflicted with any and all diseases
in which patients were or became resistant to treatments
using recombinant (synthetic) interferon. The most common
maladies treated with interferons include hepatitis C, multiple
sclerosis and certain cancers.
Viragen's
natural alpha interferon had previously been approved in
Sweden and certain other countries for the treatment of
patients with hairy cell leukemia (HCL) and chronic myelogenous
leukemia (CML) who did not respond to recombinant interferon
regimens. Global interferon sales are estimated to exceed
$2 billion per year.
Viragen's
newly appointed chief medical officer, Professor Orjan Strannegard,
MD, stated, "Recombinant interferon products are the dominant
treatment for a broad range of chronic viral and malignant
diseases. However, a significant percentage of patients
cannot tolerate the adverse side-effects typically associated
with recombinant regimens or fail the therapy, probably
due to the formation of neutralizing antibodies. For those
patients that do fail, there are few safe and effective
alternatives. Our expanded Swedish approval provides further
evidence that it may be advantageous for a patient to be
treated with Viragen's naturally-derived interferon. This
drug has been demonstrated to have excellent effects in
various viral diseases and cancers. It is well tolerated
by the treated patients and it is able to elicit a renewed
response in patients that have been resistant to recombinant
interferons."
Natural
interferon, produced by white blood cells, is part of the
human immune system. It is one of the body's natural defensive
responses to foreign substances such as viruses, and is
so named because it "interferes" with viral growth. Recombinant
interferons, which currently dominate the interferon market,
are genetically engineered and are sometimes recognized
as "foreign" by the body's immune system. Recombinant interferons
usually contain only one subtype of interferon as compared
to multiple subtypes produced by human white blood cells.
SOURCE
Viragen, Inc
