New Hope in Finding Cure for Yellow Fever
- Filed under: Health News, Health Technology
- Date: Aug 11,2010
Tamir Biotechnology (formerly Alfacell Corporation) announced that scientists supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) confirmed that testing of three (3) of our company’s compounds showed in vitro results rarely seen before by the U.S. government for yellow fever.
In order to determine the effectiveness of a compound, NIAID uses a Selectivity Index (SI). The SI measures EC50 (50% virus-inhibitory (effective) concentration and EC90 (90%) cell inhibitory (cytotoxic) concentration determined in stationary cells. SI= (CC50 divided by EC90). The SI scores of our three (3) compounds tested for yellow fever virus were 100, 267 and 287. According to the scientists who conducted the testing, rarely have they seen an SI above 10.
It’s been over 100 years since the United States sent three doctors, led by renowned American Army surgeon Dr. Walter Reed to Cuba to study the work of Carlos Finlay, Cuban physician and scientist who first proposed proof in 1881 that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes rather than direct human contact. It’s been seventy-three (73) years since Max Theiler, working at the Rockefeller Foundation, discovered the 17D vaccine for yellow fever. Despite the medical advances of the twentieth century, this tropical disease remains incurable.
“Due to these compelling results, the government has informed us they will be conducting studies in animal models in the near future. This study expands the potential use of our compounds (http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=197044) against other viruses and other life threatening diseases with the strong possibility of development of a new class of therapies. We intend to use all resources that are available to us by the government in our pursuit of discovering other viral targets for our compounds. We have only begun to see the effectiveness of our compounds outside the field of oncology. This is truly an exciting time for our company and our loyal shareholders,” stated Charles Muniz, Chief Executive Officer of Tamir.
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