Immtech International, Inc. has announced the receipt of a patent for use of dicationic compounds to treat infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV).

The United States Patent No. 09/703,804, "Methods and Formulations for the Treatment of Infectious Bursal Disease in Avian Subjects," protects a new class of dicationic compounds to be used to treat IBDV related infections in chickens and other poultry, including methods to improve the vaccination of avian livestock.

IBDV causes great economic losses to the poultry industry due to livestock morbidity and mortality. Even low pathogenic strains of IBDV can lead to immune suppression and 100 per cent morbidity in infected flocks. Recent outbreaks of avian influenza in California and Asia have demonstrated this disease's ability to decimate poultry populations, and to disrupt local economies and food supplies.

The patent was awarded to Professors Christine Dykstra, Jim Hudson and Sandra Ewald of Auburn University, David Boykin of Georgia State University, and Richard Tidwell from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, all members of Immtech's Scientific Consortium. Immtech has a worldwide exclusive license to commercialize products developed by its Scientific Consortium.

Dr. Christine Dykstra, Associate Professor of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Auburn University, stated, "Our ability to provide a therapeutic option, instead of mass slaughter, to contain IBDV outbreaks is an important development for the poultry industry since vaccination is not always effective against this virus."

T. Stephen Thompson, president and CEO of Immtech, added, "This discovery demonstrates the potential of dicationic compounds to treat IBDV that devastates the poultry industry and to solve the substantial economic problems faced by food producers worldwide."