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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jack Sholl
714-545-0100 ext. 3013
VIRATEK TO SUPPORT 26
PHARMACEUTICAL CLINICAL TRIALS IN 1994
COSTA MESA, Calif., January 24, 1994 -- Viratek, Inc. (AMEX:VRA)
said today it will support 26 clinical trials in 1994 at a cost of
nearly $6 million.
In a letter to shareholders, the company said Viratek begins 1994
with a full complement of a scientific and support staff of 40
engaged in all facets of pharmaceutical research and development,
including discovery, preclinical and clinical development,
regulatory affairs and licensing. In addition to 26 ongoing
clinical trials on its own behalf and for SPI Pharmaceuticals, some
30 additional clinical trials are planned.
Key among the current studies are two Phase III clinical trials
that are now nearing completion with the company's patented
antiviral Virazole (ribavirin) in the treatment of chronic
hepatitis C, a blood-borne viral infection that can lead to liver
cancer or cirrhosis of the liver, both fatal conditions. A third
Phase III trial is being sponsored by the National Institutes of
Health Liver Unit. The company plans to apply for authorization
for this indication in the U.S. and in major world markets in
coming months.
A series of double-blind, placebo-controlled trials with Virazole
capsules is also underway in Mexico against chronic hepatitis C in
children and patients not responding to interferon, as well as
other forms of hepatitis. All together, 430 patients are enrolled
in these trials. Virazole already is authorized in 22 countries
for general and acute viral hepatitis.
Overall, Virazole is now used in over 40 countries to treat at
least one of eight different viral infections. In the U.S. and
over 20 countries it is used in aerosol form to treat babies
hospitalized with severe lower respiratory tract infection caused
by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Clinical studies with other compounds now underway include three
trials with the anticancer drug tiazofurin. A trial at Boston
University Medical Center in patients suffering from myelogenous
leukemia in blast crisis will serve as a second confirmation study
to an already completed trial at the Indiana University Medical
Center. In another study, also in chronic myelogenous leukemia in<PAGE>
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blast crisis, the combination of intravenous tiazofurin and oral
Virazole is being investigated at the University of Arkansas
Medical Center. The last is a 30-patient trial comparing
tiazofurin to Taxol in refractory ovarian cancer at the Indiana
University Medical Center.
In Mexico, an immunomodulator is being tested in patients suffering
from chronic bronchitis in a double-blind, placebo-controlled
study, and the calcium channel blocker lidamidine chlorhydrate is
the subject of two double-blind, placebo-controlled studies against
irritable bowel syndrome.
In addition to the clinical trials now underway and others planned,
Viratek recently initiated a new discovery program based on
antisense technology that selectively blocks the expression of
specific genetic material causing cancer, viral infections and skin
disorders. The antisense program is headed by Dr. Wilfried E.
Seifert, director of research and former director of the Laboratory
for Molecular Biology at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical
Chemistry in Gottingen, Germany.
"With the addition of this basic research, Viratek has a complete
research and development program, ranging from discovery to
preclinical and late Phase III development," said Nils Johannesson,
M.D., Ph.D., president of Viratek.
In addition, Dr. Johannesson noted that Viratek's total program is
supplemented by work of independent investigators, such as a
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases trial
studying a combination of low-dose ribavirin and standard-dose DDI
for the treatment of HIV infection.
Viratek is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery
and development of therapeutics and diagnostics based on nucleic
acid research.
