Cytheris to present interim data from ECLIPSE II Hepatitis C multicenter study at AASLD annual meeting

Cytheris SA, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on research and development of new therapies for immune modulation, today announced that data from an interim analysis of its ECLIPSE II Hepatitis C Phase I/IIa multicenter study will be presented during a late breaker session at The Liver Meeting(R), the 62nd annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in San Francisco, November 4-8, 2011.

The ongoing study is evaluating treatment using the company’s investigative immune-modulator, recombinant human Interleukin-7 (CYT107), added to peginterferon and ribavirin (SOC), for four weeks, in genotype one and four treatment experienced patients defined as nonresponders to SOC.

The presentation details are as follows:

Session: Poster session III, Monday, November 7
Session title: HCV: clinical trials and therapeutic developments
Session type: Late breaking poster session
Location: Poster Hall
Abstract number: LB-9
Presentation time: 8:00 AM – 5:30 PM (presenters in attendance: 12:30 – 2:00 PM)
Presentation title: Four weeks of IL-7 (CYT107) added to peginterferon and ribavirin (SOC) is safe, induces a broad immune response associated with HCV

viral  clearance in genotype one and four patients nonresponders to Peg-IFN and RBV.

Authors: Habersetzer F (1), Payen JL (2), Rouzier R (3), Alric L (4), Andreone P (5), Grando V (6), Attali P (7), Hézode C (8), Serfaty L (9), Tambussi G (10), Benhamou Y (11), Beq S (12), Demol P (12), Croughs T (12), Morre M (12), Marcellin P (13).

(1) Nouvel Hôpital Civil, Strasbourg, France ; (2) CHU Montauban, Montauban, France ; (3) Centre CAP Phase I/II, Montpellier, France ; (4) CHU Purpan, Toulouse, France ; (5) Università di Bologna,  Bologna, Italy; (6) Hôpital Jean Verdier, Bondy, France ; (7) Hôpital Kremlin Bicêtre, Kremlin Bicêtre, France; (8) Hôpital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France; (9) Hôpital St  Antoine,  Paris,  France; (10) San Raffaele Scientific Institute,  Milano, Italy; (11) Hôpital Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France; (12) Cytheris, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France; (13) Hôpital Beaujon, Clichy, France

About recombinant human interleukin-7 (CYT107)

Recombinant human interleukin-7 (CYT107) is a critical immune-modulator for immune T-cell recovery and enhancement. As a growth factor and cytokine physiologically produced by marrow or thymic stromal cells and other epithelia, IL-7 has a critical and, at some steps, a non-redundant stimulating effect on T lymphocyte development, notably on thymopoiesis and, downstream from the thymus, on homeostatic expansion of peripheral T-cells.

Clinical trials including more than 220 patients in Europe, North America, South Africa and Taiwan have demonstrated the potential of IL-7 to expand and protect CD4 and CD8 T-cells. Currently, Cytheris is conducting multiple international investigations of IL-7 in HIV, HCV, HBV, post-BMT and cancer. Additional studies include a NIAID/NIH-sponsored trial (ICICLE) in idiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia (ICL); a cancer vaccine study in children with Ewing’s sarcoma family of tumors or similar genetic tumors sponsored by US National Cancer Institute; a collaborative study in metastatic breast cancer sponsored by the Centre Léon Bérard of Lyon; and, a multi-company/institutional study (EraMune 01) sponsored by ORVACS (the international HIV organization funded by the French Bettencourt Schueller Foundation) aimed at attacking the HIV viral reservoir.

About Cytheris – http://www.cytheris.com

Cytheris SA is a privately held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on research and development of new therapies for immune modulation. These drugs aim at reconstituting and enhancing the immune system of patients suffering from cancer, chronic viral infections such as HCV, HBV and HIV, or lympho-depleting treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The company operates from its headquarters and laboratories in Issy-les-Moulineaux, a suburb of Paris, and its U.S. subsidiary in Rockville, Maryland.