Cel-Sci Corporation has filed a patent application covering the use of its immunotherapy product Multikine for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and West Nile Virus. The application focuses on the use of Multikine in patients who are immuno-suppressed, such as the elderly. The death rate in these patients is several times higher than the death rate in patients below sixty years of age. The death rate of SARS patients sixty years and older is thought to be up to 50%. The death rate from West Nile Virus infection is thought to be between 4% and 47% and is clustered among newly infected elderly patients.

In general, the human immune system weakens with age. Individuals sixty years and older are known to have increased susceptibility to common cold viruses and pneumonia as well as fungal and bacterial infections and cancer. When older individuals become infected with SARS or West Nile Virus, their immune system is less able to mount a robust immune response to keep the disease in check.

Dr. Eyal Talor, Senior Vice President of Research and Manufacturing at CEL-SCI, said, "Multikine has been shown in humans to have both anti-viral as well as immune-boosting attributes. We believe that early administration of Multikine, immediately following diagnosis of SARS, West Nile Virus and other infectious viral diseases, may help to boost the body's natural immune response, thereby increasing the infected individual's ability to fight off the disease."

Multikine, a natural mixture of human cytokines, has to date been tested in over 190 cancer, HIV and HIV/HPV infected patients with no severe adverse events related to Multikine administration. It is under clinical investigation for the treatment of head & neck cancer and for the treatment of cervical dysplasia caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Multikine is an immune adjuvant with direct anti-viral and anti-cancer activities, assisting in host immune response reconstitution.