Nventa announces publication of ...( - HspE7 Demonstrates Ability to Eli...)

- HspE7 Demonstrates Ability to Elicit Long-Lasting Tumor Protection In

Vivo; Lead Candidate May Have Utility in HPV-infected Patients With

Invasive Cancer and/or HIV -

SAN DIEGO, CA, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Nventa Biopharmaceuticals Corporation (TSX:NVN) today announced the publication of in vivo results of its lead therapeutic vaccine candidate for the treatment of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related diseases, HspE7, in Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, August 2007. The results reported originate from a study undertaken to characterize the cellular anti-E7 immune response induced by HspE7 and to determine the optimum dosing regimen for inducing effective antitumor immunity.

These published study results demonstrated that a single injection of HspE7 is capable of eliciting long-lasting memory CD8+ T cells and conferring protection against tumor challenges in mice lacking CD4+ functions. CD8+ T cells are a type of white blood cell capable of inducing the death of infected somatic or tumor cells by killing cells infected with viruses (or other pathogens) or otherwise damaged or dysfunctional. These data further demonstrated that two HspE7 immunizations protected a higher proportion of mice for a longer duration.

"These results further strengthen our belief that HspE7 is a promising immunotherapeutic agent for treating HPV-related diseases," said Peter Emtage, Ph.D., Vice President, Research and Development at Nventa. "The ability of HspE7 to induce memory CD8+ T cells in the absence of CD4+ help is significant and suggests that our HspE7 fusion protein may have utility in individuals with compromised CD4+ functions, such as those with invasive cancer and/or human immunodeficiency virus infection."

HPV has been detected in most anogenital cancers, and HPV type 16 (HPV16) is closely associated with severe cervical dysplasia and with cervical, anal and approximately 25 percent of head and neck cancers
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