• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Lev Pharmaceuticals Licenses IVIG Technology

Posted on: Wednesday, 24 May 2006, 09:00 CDT

Lev Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Lev") (OTCBB: LEVP.OB), a developer of therapeutics for inflammatory diseases, announced today that the Company has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Dr. Hannu Suomela relating to methods for producing plasma-derived intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Dr. Suomela, of Vantaa, Finland, is the inventor of the underlying technology and holder of a pending U.S. patent application. IVIG is used to treat patients with certain immune system disorders, and North American sales of IVIG products currently exceed $1 billion.

"We see IVIG as a product opportunity addressing multiple medical needs in a significant patient population," said Joshua D. Schein, Ph.D., the Company's Chief Executive Officer. "This agreement reflects our strategy of broadening our technology platform and expanding our pipeline with related products that are complementary to our existing technology platform and scientific expertise."

IVIG is used to treat a range of diseases involving the immune system, including primary immunodeficiency disorders, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, HIV, and certain autoimmune diseases. Primary immunodeficiencies are genetic diseases characterized by increased susceptibility to infection and affect as many as 50,000 individuals in the U.S. These disorders encompass more than 100 diseases, including common variable immunodeficiency, X-linked agammaglobulinemia, and severe combined immunodeficiency. In these and other disorders, IVIG acts to restore function to the immune system in order to prevent or combat infection.

About Lev Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Lev is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapeutic products for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Lev's product candidates are based on C1-esterase inhibitor ("C1-INH"), a human plasma protein that mediates inflammation and is potentially applicable as a treatment for a range of medical indications. The Company is currently conducting a registrational Phase III clinical trial of its lead product candidate, C1-INH for the acute and prophylactic treatment of hereditary angioedema, a genetic disease affecting 6,000 or more people in the U.S. Lev is also evaluating the development of C1-INH for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction, or heart attack, and selective other diseases and disorders in which inflammation is known or believed to play an underlying role.

Patients and physicians interested in obtaining more information about Lev's Phase III trial for hereditary angioedema should contact the Company directly at 212-682-3096, or visit the Company's website at www.levpharma.com.

Legal notice to investors: Certain matters discussed in this news release are "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements, which apply only on the date of this release, generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may,""will,""expects,""intends,""estimates,""anticipates,""believes,""continues" or words of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe LevPharma's future plans, objectives or goals are also forward-looking statements, which generally involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other facts that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of LevPharma to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors may include the following: uncertainties associated with product development, the risk that LevPharma will not obtain approval to market its products, the risk that LevPharma's products will not gain market acceptance, the risks associated with dependence upon key personnel and the need for additional financing.

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category