Subject: SmithKline Finds Agent That Seems To Hamper AIDS
Date: Published: 12/17/87 43 lines
Source:  WALL STREET JOURNAL. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

    SmithKline Finds
    Agent That Seems
    To Hamper AIDS

    PHILADELPHIA -- SmithKline Beckman Corp. said it developed
 a protein agent that appears to block the AIDS virus and
 prevents it from spreading and infecting healthy cells.
    Laboratory tests suggest the substance could lead to a new
 drug for treating the disease, the pharmaceutical concern
 said.  However, SmithKline emphasized it hasn't tested the
 protein in humans yet and said it won't be ready for
 wide-scale trials on AIDS patients for at least three years.
    The protein, known as soluble T4 receptor, blocks the
 principal routes used by the AIDS virus to infect human
 cells.  The discovery, if true, would be significant because
 scientists have found that when the acquired immune
 deficiency syndrome virus enters the bloodstream, it takes
 over and destroys the cells that regulate the body's immune
 system.  The victim then becomes susceptible to deadly
 infections.
    Results of laboratory tests have been submitted to Nature
 for publication next month, a SmithKline spokesman said.
    SmithKline began the work more than a year ago with
 scientists at Columbia University.
    SmithKline is but one of several groups currently
 exploring the T4 receptor molecule as a possible therapy.  A
 group at Genentech Inc., the South San Francisco, Calif.,
 biotechnology concern, is slated to publish the first major
 scientific paper on the potential therapy tomorrow in the
 journal Science.
    Yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading,
 SmithKline closed at $47.25, up 12.5 cents.  In national
 over-the-counter trading, Genentech rose $2.50 to $38.50.

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