Trimeris Presents Data on New Drug

Trimeris' experimental drug T-1249 has shown to be effective in lowering HIV levels in patients who have developed resistance to other medications including Trimeris' Fuzeon, a drug that could win approval by mid-March.

Twenty-five patients taking Fuzeon in a clinical trial who developed resistance experienced, on average, a 92 percent reduction in HIV blood levels over 10 days after switching to T-1249. Durham-based Trimeris and Roche Holding of Switzerland co-funded the study, the results of which were presented at the 10th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston.

Fuzeon and T-1249 are fusion inhibitors, a new AIDS drug class that functions differently from the three classes of drugs currently available. Fusion inhibitors block the HIV virus from fusing with healthy cells. Trimeris scientists had shown that T-1249 was effective against Fuzeon-resistant strains of HIV in the lab, but had not demonstrated its effectiveness in patients until recently.

Trimeris has applied for marketing approval for Fuzeon, and the FDA is expected to act on the request by March 16. T-1249's development is roughly two-and-a-half years behind Fuzeon. Trimeris expects to begin a larger Phase II clinical trial of T-1249 later this year.

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