Advanced Viral Research Corp (ADVR) announced that a wound healing study topically applying its pharmaceutical drug AVR118 to pigs has shown that AVR118 accelerates the rate at which wounds heal. Although preliminary, these studies provide the rationale for advancing AVR118 to the human testing stage.

"This study has already generated interest from two major dermatological and wound healing centres in North America and Europe and we intend to move forward with a clinical trial plan," says Stephen M. Elliston, president and CEO of Advanced Viral Research.

"These findings are extremely important because the regenerative properties of the pig model closely parallel those of humans. The wounds treated in this study with AVR118 healed faster than those treated with a saline control," added Elliston.

Advanced Viral Research Corp is a New York based biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving patients' lives by researching, developing and bringing to market new and effective therapies for the systematic control of symptoms associated with cancer and other serious diseases. ADVR's lead product, AVR118 represents a new class of complex cytoprotective agents that target among other things, cachexia related disorders. AVR118 has also shown to have topical wound healing properties in animal models.