Subject: Imreg Product To Treat AIDS Receives Patent
Date: Published: 6/15/88 61 lines
Source:  WALL STREET JOURNAL. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

   Imreg Product
   To Treat AIDS
   Receives Patent
    ---
   By Dianna Solis
   Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

   NEW ORLEANS -- Imreg Inc. said it received a patent for
its Imreg-1 biotechnology product to treat acquired immune
deficiency syndrome and AIDS-related complex.
   The U. S. Patent and Trademark Office issued the patent,
which is the first to specifically address the treatment of
AIDS or AIDS-related complex.  It protects the product for 17
years.
   Details of advanced clinical trials of the product were
presented Monday at the Fourth International Conference on
AIDS in Stockholm.  Imreg-1 is described as an immuno
supportive "biologic" taken from white blood cells.
   In a six-month study at eight testing centers, the product
was given in biweekly injections to 93 of 141 patients with
AIDS-related complex, or ARC, a precursor to AIDS, while the
rest received a placebo.  Only four of 93 ARC patients
receiving Imreg-1 therapy advanced to the onset of AIDS or
such so-called AIDS-defining conditions as Kaposi's Sarcoma,
a cancer.  By comparison, of the 48 people taking placebo, 12
progressed toward AIDS. 
   Imreg concluded in Stockholm that untreated persons had a
five-times greater risk of progressing to AIDS than those who
received Imreg-1.  And, as in previous trial stages,
independent researchers selected by the company found no
"observed toxicity" from the product.
   Imreg earlier announced sketchy results of its
placebo-controlled, Phase-3 trials in patients infected with
the AIDS virus, with the conclusion that there was a "reduced
 risk of progression to AIDS" with Imreg-1 treatment.  Phase-3
trials are frequently considered the final stage before
submission of a product license application to the U. S. Food
and Drug Administration.
   But some Wall Street analysts still urged caution on the
seven-year-old biotechnology concern, which has yet to
receive FDA approval for any product.  "I don't think the data
is substantial enough to warrant FDA approval," says Stuart
Weisbrod, an analyst with Prudential-Bache Securities Inc. He
said he wants to see similar trials performed at least two
more times.
   Throughout testing, the scientific community has been
lukewarm to the claims of Imreg's medical and business team.
Still, the volatile stock has soared in recent months from
its low this year of $6 a share in January.  In national
over-the-counter trading yesterday, Imreg shares closed at
$16.125 each, down 37.5 cents.

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