( PLANTATION Fla. May 08 2007 /PRNews...)Multiferon Shows Potent Activity in Preventing the Progression of,Malignant Melanoma; Study to be Published,Health

PLANTATION, Fla., May 08, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Viragen, Inc. and Viragen International, Inc. today announced results from a sponsored in vitro study conducted at Umea University in Sweden, which found that Multiferon(R) (multi- subtype, human alpha interferon) suppressed development of resistant human melanoma clones to a far greater degree than recombinant alpha interferon. The study has been accepted for publication in AntiCancer Research, International Journal of Cancer Research and Treatment.

The study, conducted by Professor Erik Lundgren, Head of Research at the Department of Molecular Biology, Umea University, was designed to compare Multiferon(R) and Intron(R) A* (Interferon alpha-2b, recombinant) with respect to the abilities of each product to inhibit the development of interferon- resistant melanoma cells in vitro, in order to better understand the reason for melanoma treatment failures.

The Study:

Three human melanoma cell lines were grown at a range of different cell concentrations in the presence of graded doses of either Multiferon(R) or Intron(R) A. After four weeks, the number of melanoma cell colonies were assessed and their properties analyzed.

Results:

Long-term treatment with Multiferon(R) was found to result in substantially fewer interferon-resistant melanoma clones than treatment with Intron(R) A. When treated with the single-subtype, recombinant alpha interferon, not only were distinct colonies found, but scattered individual cells were also observed. In contrast, during short term treatment, there was no difference in potency between the two interferon types with respect to growth and survival.

Conclusion:

The results suggest that the mixture of six human alpha subtypes present in Multiferon(R) (a1 a2, a8, a10, a14, a21) provides distinct benefits versus other alpha interferon products in vitro with respect to reducing the numb
'"/>