Antisense Compound Combats Restenosis
Patrick L. Iversen, senior vice president of research and development at AVI BioPharma (One S.W. Columbia St., Suite 1105, Portland, OR 97258; Tel: 503/227- 0554, Fax: 503/227-0751) presented results from studies of Resten NG, an antisense compound being developed for the prevention of restenosis at the International Conferences on Gene Therapy and Molecular Biology and Medicine held in Redwood City, California
Resten-NG targets the proto-oncogene c-my, which is expressed during cell proliferation in a wide variety of tissues and appears to be involved in the control of differentiation. The expression of c-myc following balloon angioplasty may play a part in restenosis, during which smooth muscle cells divide rapidly to cause closure of the artery for a second time. Inhibiting c- myc expression may prevent restenosis. “AVI has conducted extensive pre-clinical studies of Resten-NG in a variety of animal models, confirming that classical enzymology approaches can be used to evaluate antisense inhibition of c-my expression in vivo,” says Iversen. “We expect to file an investigational new drug application for Resten-NG for the treatment of restenosis later this year,” adds Denis R. Burger, president and CEO of AVI. Resten-NG is part of the company’s Neugenes antisense development program.