AVI BioPharma Publishes West Nile, Dengue Virus NEUGENE Antisense Studies

AVI BioPharma has announced the publication of two articles in the April 2005 Journal of Virology describing preclinical studies in which its NEUGENE antisense drugs were used to inhibit dengue virus and West Nile virus (WNV) infection.

In the dengue virus study, "Inhibition of Dengue Virus Serotypes 1 to 4 in Vero Cell Cultures with Morpholino Oligomers," five NEUGENE antisense drug candidates were evaluated for their ability to inhibit replication of dengue virus in mammalian cell culture. Results showed that several NEUGENE candidates effectively inhibited dengue replication up to a millionfold, in some cases reducing the amount of virus in the cells to undetectable levels. Moreover, the viral inhibition was specific, dose-dependent and extended to all four serotypes, each of which may cause both dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever. This cross-strain activity would appear to be critical for an effective clinical agent for dengue.

The West Nile virus study, "Inhibition of Flavivirus Infections by Antisense Oligomers Specifically Suppressing Viral Translation and RNA Replication," tested the ability of AVI's NEUGENE drugs to inhibit West Nile virus infection, as well as infection by other viruses of the flavivirus family. When cells infected with an epidemic strain of WNV were treated with specific NEUGENE drug candidates, viral levels were reduced substantially (up to a millionfold), without any apparent cell toxicity.