Article Excerpt:
TWST: Would you give us a brief historical sketch of the company and a picture of the things you are doing at the present time?Dr. Cummins: The company was formed 22 years ago, and went public 10 years ago. Our focus has always been on oral interferon. The market for injectable interferon is $5 billion-a-year, and our technology is that interferon can be given orally in low doses without side effects. So we are trying to break into that big market. We are currently conducting a Phase II trial in Turkey in a disease called Behcet's disease. We have a Phase II trial that we plan to start this fall on oral warts in HIV positive patients, and another Phase II trial on chronic cough in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. So that gives us three horses in the race, so to speak, trying to get FDA approval. We also have a program right now on bird flu or influenza. We have animal studies that have been ongoing in Australia and in New York. We have a poultry study we want to start. We have interest in influenza because it has already been shown that interferon works very well against influenza virus and it has been actually shown that intranasal or oral low-dose interferon is helpful. So we have a program in influenza trying to stir up interest in flu experts and the World Health Organization.
TWST: In what way does your approach differ from that of your
competitors?
Dr. Cummins: High-dose injectable interferon is in the marketplace now.
They use a dose that is something like 10,000 to 20,000 times higher
than ours. So they have a lot more side effects (adverse events). Our
product is an oral formulation; it's a little lozenge that the patients
suck on it until it dissolves. There is no needle and syringe required
for administration. Our product is stable for two years at room
temperature and five years at refrigeration temperature.
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