The Immune Response Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company developing immune-based therapies for HIV and select other diseases, announced that three abstracts related to its product candidates have been accepted for poster presentations at two prestigious scientific conferences this summer.

"We are accelerating an HIV immune-based therapy clinical program, and are pleased that these two important scientific conferences are providing platforms to share our preliminary data, especially with regard to our new product candidate IR103," said John N. Bonfiglio, chief executive officer of The Immune Response Corporation.

"We strongly believe in our approach and the potential of both IR103 and Remune as new treatment options for people living with HIV. Our strategy is to use our current clinical plan to develop a complete profile of both of these products," he said.

IR103 is an immune-based therapy comprised of a gp120-depleted HIV-1 immunogen (Remune) and a second-generation immunostimulatory oligonucleotide adjuvant. IR103 is the subject of three accepted abstracts. Two abstracts have been accepted to the XV International AIDS Conference to be held in Bangkok, Thailand from July 11-16. Both abstracts, accepted as posters, address new preclinical data on IR103. Additionally, preclinical data on IR103 will be presented as a poster at the 12th International Congress of Immunology to be held July 18-23 in Montreal, Canada.

"Our clinical program is moving forward on both product candidates. The Remune trials in Italy and in Spain are both fully enrolled and we expect preliminary data from the Italian trial in the second quarter of 2004. These trials are examining two different potential uses for Remune, one for newly diagnosed or drug-naïve patients and the other as a potential alternative for patients that have been on antiretroviral drugs. We are also in the process of initiating IR103 human trials this year," stated Georgia Theofan, vice president of Clinical Development. "Our clinical development plan is on target for obtaining as much new data as we can to move these products toward commercialization."