MedImmune Presents Data Highlighting its Progressive Inflammatory Disease Portfolio at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the American College of Rh...( GAITHERSBURG Md. Oct. 23 /- MedIm...)

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- MedImmune today announced that researchers will present eight posters from its inflammatory disease program at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, from October 24 to 29, 2008 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.

"MedImmune is working on a number of potential solutions for patients struggling with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases," said Barbara White, M.D., vice president, clinical development, respiratory, inflammation, and autoimmunity. "We are pleased to share promising basic research and translational science data relevant to the development of new treatments for diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and myositis"

MedImmune programs that will be discussed include:

-- MEDI-545 - MEDI-545 is a monoclonal antibody (MAb) targeting

interferon-alpha, which regulates processes involved in autoimmune

diseases. MedImmune has launched a broad development program with this

molecule to assess its potential to treat or prevent a variety of

immunological disorders. Currently, MedImmune is conducting a phase 2a

trial in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and a phase 1b

study in patients with active dermatomyositis and polymyositis. The

company has also conducted clinical trials in psoriasis with MEDI-545.

-- CAM-3001 - CAM-3001 is a MAb with potential to help patients with

rheumatoid arthritis. The antibody targets the alpha sub-unit of the

granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor receptor (GM-CSFR).

CAM-3001 is a phase 1 clinical stage program.

-- ICOS - ICOS (Inducible costimulator) is a receptor on activated T-cells

that plays a central role in humoral immunity. Elevated levels of ICOS

are present in patients with autoimmune diseases and effector cytokines

have been shown to corr
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