Virologic (NASDAQ:VLGC)
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ViroLogic Studies Emphasize the Benefits of Pre-Treatment
Indicators in the Management of HIV Disease
Scientific Contributions at International Workshop Reinforce Company's
Leadership Position in Individualized Medicine
CANARY ISLANDS, Spain, June 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ViroLogic, Inc.
(NASDAQ:VLGC) announced today the presentation of 13 studies utilizing its HIV
drug resistance technologies by Company scientists and collaborators at the
13th International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop being held this week. These
studies underscore the utility of the Company's products and resources in
enabling the effective management of HIV infection, as well as the development
of new drugs and treatment strategies.
"ViroLogic's strong presence at the 13th International HIV Drug Resistance
Workshop demonstrates the Company's pioneering position in individualized
medicine," said William D. Young, Chairman and CEO of ViroLogic. "We believe
that ViroLogic's HIV drug resistance testing portfolio exemplifies how other
serious diseases can be effectively managed in the future. The wide range of
studies at this meeting also highlights the benefits of leveraging long
standing, productive collaborations with leading academic, government and
industry investigators to achieve our goal of maximizing treatment success and
providing cost effective healthcare."
Several notable studies to be presented at the meeting highlight the diverse
applicability of ViroLogic's products in HIV disease management and provide
early insight into the mechanisms of resistance to the newest class of
antiviral drugs, cell-entry inhibitors.
In a study directed by Dr. Andrew Zolopa, Associate Professor at Stanford
University, an expert panel of leading HIV clinicians were asked to select
treatment regimens based on phenotypic (PT), genotypic (GT) or combined
phenotypic-genotypic (PTGT) test results. The data demonstrate that different
antiretroviral regimens are chosen depending on the type of resistance test
that is used. This study suggests that having combined PTGT results provides a
more informed approach to HIV disease management.
Previous studies have demonstrated that HIV replication capacity (RC) is a key
component of viral fitness and that low RC is associated with preservation of
the immune system, i.e. CD4 T-cell count. At this workshop, ViroLogic
collaborators will present several new studies that demonstrate a relationship
between viral RC and HIV disease. In a study directed by investigators at the
Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology in San Francisco, CA, RC in
untreated patients was positively correlated with CD8 T-cell activation, a
known determinant of immune system status. In a multivariate model including
viral load, CD4 T-cell count, and phenotypic drug resistance, RC was the sole
independent predictor of CD8 T-cell activation. These data suggest that RC is a
measure of viral pathogenicity rather than simply a surrogate for viral load.
In a second study, Dr. Charles Hicks, Associate Professor at Duke University,
evaluated whether specific viral characteristics influence immune system
restoration following initiation of Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy
(HAART). The investigators determined that patients with lower baseline RC at
the onset of HAART had larger recoveries of CD4 T-cell numbers following
treatment. This observation suggests that RC can be used to help select the
most appropriate timing for initiating treatment on a patient-by-patient basis.
In a study led by ViroLogic investigators, resistance to entry inhibitors was
shown to possibly differ from that of more conventional HIV therapeutic targets
such as reverse transcriptase and protease. The primary goal of this study was
to identify whether resistance would emerge via alternative mechanisms
depending on the specific molecular interaction that was targeted. Preliminary
results suggest that escape from inhibitors that block receptor or co-receptor
binding may occur by acquiring the ability to bind and utilize
receptor-inhibitor complexes.
"Virus entry is a multi-step process involving several virus envelope proteins
and host cell receptors, which each play a key role in entry and infection,"
said Christos J. Petropoulos, Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Development
at ViroLogic. "Understanding how entry inhibitors work provides an important
advance in developing technologies that allow the early identification of entry
inhibitor resistance as well as new drugs that can effectively circumvent this
resistance mechanism."
About ViroLogic
ViroLogic (the "Company") is a biotechnology company advancing individualized
medicine by discovering, developing and marketing innovative products to guide
and improve treatment of serious infectious diseases such as AIDS and
hepatitis. The Company's products are designed to help doctors optimize
treatment regimens for their patients that lead to better outcomes and reduced
costs. The Company's technology is also being used by numerous
biopharmaceutical companies to develop new and improved antiviral therapeutics
and vaccines targeted at emerging drug-resistant viruses. More information
about the Company and its technology can be found on its web site at
http://www.virologic.com/.
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking, including the
various statements relating to the data presented at the 13th International HIV
Drug Resistance Workshop described in this press release. These forward-looking
statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may
cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or other
expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risks that the Company's
products may not continue to perform in the same manner as indicated in the
studies discussed in this press release, whether ViroLogic successfully
introduces new products, whether others introduce competitive products, the
risk that the Company's products for patient testing may not continue to be
accepted or that increased demand from drug development partners may not
develop as anticipated, the risk that gross margins may not increase as
expected, the risk that ViroLogic may not continue to realize anticipated
benefits from its cost-cutting measures, the timing of pharmaceutical company
clinical trials, whether payors will authorize reimbursement for its products,
whether the FDA or any other agency will decide to regulate ViroLogic's
products or services, whether the Company will encounter problems or delays in
automating its processes, whether ViroLogic successfully introduces new
products, whether others introduce competitive products, whether intellectual
property underlying the Company's PhenoSense technology is adequate, whether
licenses to third party technology will be available, whether ViroLogic is able
to build brand loyalty and expand revenues, and whether ViroLogic will be able
to raise sufficient capital when required. For a discussion of other factors
that may cause ViroLogic's actual events to differ from those projected, please
refer to the Company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q, as well as other subsequent filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission.
DATASOURCE: ViroLogic, Inc.
CONTACT: Karen Wilson, CFO of ViroLogic, Inc., +1-650-624-4164, or
Web site: http://www.virologic.com/