Subject: Mysterious Strain of Hepatitis Is Identified 
Date: Published: 4/21/89 (106 lines)
Source:  Wall Street Journal.  Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

    Technology & Medicine:  
    Mysterious Strain of Hepatitis Is Identified
    ----   
    By Marilyn Chase
    Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

    Chiron Corp. scientists have identified a mysterious viral
 strain of hepatitis and developed a test to detect this cause
 of an insidious form of the liver disease.
    The discovery of the Hepatitis C virus, which has eluded
 doctors for a decade, is expected to yield a tool to ensure a
 cleaner blood supply and to lead toward the development of
 possible vaccines and drugs.
    The Chiron scientists said the newly identified virus
 causes 80% to 85% of the hepatitis not caused by the older
 strains -- Hepatitis A and B. Doctors have previously lumped
 such cases together under the label Non-A, Non-B Hepatitis.
 Their findings are scheduled to be published in two papers in
 today's issue of the journal Science.
    "It's a very exciting finding," said Thomas Merigan,
 chairman of the department of infectious diseases at Stanford
 University Medical School.  He termed this variety of
 hepatitis as "insidious, causing cirrhosis and other chronic
 complications" that lead to death in an estimated 15% of
 cases over a five-year period.
    Chiron, an Emeryville, Calif., biotechnology company, said
 that tests of its screening device should be completed next
 month, and that it hopes to ask in July or August for
 approval by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration.  The test,
 which will be marketed by the Ortho Diagnostics Systems unit
 of Johnson & Johnson, could be on the market by early 1990.
    "This is a very significant advance" in transfusion
 safety, said Gerald Sandler, associate vice president for
 blood services of the American Red Cross.  Despite a battery
 of screening tests employed by blood banks, he acknowledged
 there has been "a residual problem" of transfusion-borne
 hepatitis.
    About 10% of blood transfusion recipients contract
 hepatitis, and roughly half of such cases fall into the
 non-A, non-B category.  Donated blood now is routinely
 screened for Hepatitis A and B, among other infectious
 agents.  By one currently accepted estimate, the odds of
 contracting non-A, non-B Hepatitis from a transfusion are one
 in 100 for each unit of blood.  For the average
 two-to-four-unit blood transfusion, that translates as a 2%
 to 4% risk every time a patient receives blood.
    In addition to helping clean up the blood supply, Dr. 
 Sandler said the existence of a Hepatitis C screening test
 will give doctors "a better idea of the natural course of the
 disease," which can be so subtle it sometimes isn't detected
 until an abnormal liver-function test crops up years after a
 transfusion.
    The disease also is present in Europe and in Asia,
 particularly in Japan, where Chiron said more than half the
 cases are thought to be spread not by transfusion, but by
 sexual relations and close personal contacts among family
 members.
    Michael Houghton, a Chiron biochemist and lead author of
 the Science papers, said his five-person team has worked six
 years on the project and now is turning its attentions to
 possible vaccines and therapeutics.  He said the group has
 characterized the viral genes and proteins in their search
 for ways to spark immunity.
    "Later on this year, we'll be testing the vaccine in
 animals," he said, warning there's no guarantee of success in
 the prevention effort.
    "This could be one of those awkward viruses, like herpes
 or AIDS, that can evade the immune system," he said.  "On the
 other hand, it resembles viruses of the togavirus family,
 which includes German measles, for which we have {one} of the
 best vaccines ever developed."
    As for possible drugs, Chiron's Mr. Houghton and
 Stanford's Dr. Merigan said early studies indicate interferon
 may be useful in treating Hepatitis C. Other agents being
 considered include ribavirin, an antiviral drug used to treat
 a childhood respiratory ailment.
    Mr. Houghton said his team will analyze the viral
 protease, an enzyme needed for replication, as one possible
 target of specially designed therapies that aim to attack
 precise points in the life cycle of Hepatitis C virus.
    For Chiron, as for its licensee Ortho, the field could
 prove to be a lucrative one.  Chiron estimates the market for
 tests at more than $200 million a year world-wide, and at
 about $80 million in the U. S. Chiron didn't say how much the
 therapeutics market might fetch.
    Investors, too, were alert to the opportunities.  Early
 word of the Chiron papers in Science apparently leaked out
 Wednesday, prompting a 75 cent jump in Chiron's stock price
 to $20.50 in national over-the-counter trading that day.
 Yesterday, Chiron rose an additional 50 cents to close at
 $21.
    Asked about the Wednesday stock jump, Science spokesman
 Jeffrey Teramani said yesterday that fewer than 130
 journalists receive advance copies of the journal articles on
 an embargoed basis, for news coverage today.  It isn't known
 how many others, including scientists or Wall Street brokers
 and analysts, might have gained early access to the reports.

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