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| |  ASH: Radioactive Epratuzumab Shows Promising Results In Aggressive NHL NEW ORLEANS, LA and MORRIS PLAINS, N.J. -- December 8, 1999 -- Immunomedics, Inc. announced that initial promising results with its radioactive version of Epratuzumab, its second product for the therapy of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), were presented at the 41st annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology, in New Orleans, LA. The study was performed by a group of clinical investigators from the Garden State Cancer Center in Belleville, NJ, St. Joseph's Medical Center in Paterson, NJ, and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. The product tested consisted of the humanized anti-CD22 monoclonal antibody, Epratuzumab, labeled with yttrium-90, a potent radioisotope used in therapy. It was announced yesterday that a clinical research group from Cornell University New York Presbyterian Hospital reported at this conference that Epratuzumab had major activity in NHL patients when it was used the same antibody drug without a radioisotope attached. "In NHL patients who failed high-dose chemotherapy in addition to several regimens of conventional chemotherapy and antibody therapy with Rituxan® (IDEC/Genentech), half showed objective responses, consisting of complete and partial remissions," reported Dr. Malik Juweid, senior author from the Garden State Cancer Center. "Of importance is that these patients are usually left with few therapeutic options, and are considered to have a poor survival rate," he stated. He also stated that, "most of these patients were the more difficult-to-treat aggressive NHL forms, and although we have not yet reached the optimal therapy dose, good evidence of tumor response was achieved." Dr. Juweid added: "The dose of radioactivity delivered to the tumors was, on average, almost 7-times that to the bone marrow, the most radiosensitive normal organ that is usually compromised by use of radiolabeled antibodies or toxic cancer drugs. Further, as with the non-radioactive version of Epratuzumab, we did not observe any immune reaction to this product," Dr. Juweid also observed. "Our radiolabeled version of Epratuzumab is being developed as an outpatient therapy for the most difficult forms of NHL," explained Dr. David M. Goldenberg, Chairman and CEO of Immunomedics. It allows targeting of a potent radioisotope to the tumors because of being delivered with an antibody that is very selective for this disease," he remarked. "How this radiolabeled form of Epratuzumab will be used together with its non-radioactive form, and what its ultimate role in the management of NHL is, will require further studies," he added.
Related Links: Immunomedics, Inc., IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Genentech, Inc.
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