July 8, 2008

Bayhill Therapeutics is working on an MS "vaccine." They recently withdrew their IPO, claiming the market is not favorable. No mention of what effect this would have on drug development.

Teva Pharmaceuticals said its multiple sclerosis drug met goals of a mid-stage trial, and the company will conduct further research before advancing to Phase III trials.

The drug, ATL/TV1102, is being developed by Israel's Teva and Australia's Antisense Therapeutics. In a study of 77 patients in six European countries, the drug was shown to reduce the number of new brain lesions by 54.4 percent after eight weeks, compared with placebo.

ATL/TV1102, initially discovered by Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. and then licensed to Antisense Therapeutics, is known as an antisense drug as it targets disease-causing proteins, preventing them from functioning.