Immerge reports PERVs most infectious to human cells not part of germ-line DNA of ...( ery is an important step toward the dev...)

There is a critical need to identify new sources of organs for the growing number of people needing life-saving transplants around the world. In the U.S. alone, there are more than 81,000 people on the waiting list for organs and an unknown number of additional people needing organs who did not qualify for the transplant list because of age, illness or other issues. Each day, 17 patients die while on this waiting list. The theoretical risk of PERV infection in humans has been considered a critical barrier to xenotransplantation. To address this barrier, Immerge BioTherapeutics Inc. has developed a broad safety program with a number of international experts collaborators.

"PERV research is an important part of our research and development program" stated Julia Greenstein, Ph.D., CEO and President of Immerge. "Our work continues to indicate that PERV appears to be a very manageable concern clinically, allowing us to continue our progress toward clinical xenotransplantation in the near future."

The depth of Immerge's safety program is unique among other companies conducting xenotransplantation research. The company has previously reported the identification of animals within its miniature swine herd that do not transmit PERV to human cell lines (Oldmixon et al. Journal of Virology 2002; 76: 3045-3048). In the past year, in collaborative efforts with the University of Missouri-Columbia and Infigen, Inc., Immerge also announced the birth of cloned, double knock-out miniature swine that lack expression of the GGTA1 gene. This gene is responsible for rapid rejection of organs and makes the animal organs more compatible for potential human transplant.

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Contact: Susan Hayes
shayesconsult@earthlink.net
212-533-4472
S. Hayes Consulting
13-Feb-2004