Opexa Therapeutics, Inc, a company dedicated to the development of patient-specific cellular therapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and diabetes, announced an update on the continuing analysis of the company's phase-IIb Terms clinical trial (Tovaxin for Early Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis) for the treatment of MS. An analysis of the MS Quality of Life Inventory Data (MSQLI) from the 150 patient study has shown that in the complete modified intent to treat (mITT) population (n=142), patients treated with Tovaxin demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the Impact of Visual Impairment Scale scores (p=0.028) compared to those on placebo. This improvement was observed within six months of completing the full course of treatment.

Visual problems are a common, often disabling symptom in MS and according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society can affect over 40 per cent of patients. The Impact of Visual Impairment Scale consists of five items that assess the extent to which various activities dependent upon vision are affected by MS-related visual problems. In the other measures defined by the Health Status Questionnaire (SF-36) there was no significant change or worsening in any of the additional ten components comprising the evaluation.

In a further analysis of the MSQLI data in patients with more active disease that comprise the prospective cohort at the center of the company's evaluation (n=50), patients treated with Tovaxin demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey score compared to those on placebo (p=0.005). Similarly, there was no significant change or worsening in any of the other evaluable parameters within the prospective cohort.

An abstract highlighting key clinical, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), epitope and Quality of Life data from the landmark Terms study has been accepted as a poster presentation at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) in April 2009. The presentation will be given by Edward Fox, director of the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic of Central Texas and the study's principal investigator and co-author of the Terms study.

"The continuing analysis of the Tovaxin data has yielded numerous interesting pieces of data, and I am looking forward to presenting some of these at the AAN meeting. A subgroup analysis of patients with more active MS supports the efficacy and superior safety of this therapy for the treatment of MS," stated Dr Fox. "Since the manufacturing of Tovaxin is tailored to match each individual's disease profile, the potential benefit to patients could be substantial."

"We continue to advance our partnering discussions for both our T-cell technology in MS and stem cell technology in diabetes and are evaluating a number of strategic opportunities," commented Neil K Warma, Opexa's president and chief executive officer. "The addition of the MSQLI data further demonstrates that Tovaxin continues to hold significant promise as one of the safest and most effective treatments for MS currently in development, a market that currently exceeds $6 billion and yet a disease area with a continuing severe unmet medical need."

Tovaxin is an individualized T-cell therapeutic vaccine that consists of attenuated patient-specific myelin-reactive T-cells against peptides of proteins from Myelin basic protein (MBP), Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) and Proteolipid protein (PLP) or combinations thereof.

Opexa Therapeutics develops and commercializes cell therapies to treat autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes.