A patent that covers an important class of replicating adenoviruses relating to Introgen Therapeutics' anti-cancer product candidate INGN 007 (VRX 007) has been issued and exclusively sub-licensed to Introgen, the company announced. The United States patent, U.S. 6,627,190, emanates from research performed at VirRx, Inc. and Saint Louis University under the direction of Dr. William S.M. Wold, one of the world's leaders in replicating oncolytic virus technology. Introgen and VirRx are collaborating on new therapies for cancer and other diseases. VirRx, LLC was founded by Dr. Wold.

INGN 007 is an oncolytic virus product that over-expresses the ADP gene, the protein responsible for the rapid disruption (oncolysis) of tumor cells and, hence, is an important therapeutic activity of oncolytic viruses. Oncolytic viruses are viruses that kill cancer cells by replicating at high levels and cause a cancer cell to break apart. In animal models, INGN 007 has demonstrated that it saturates the entire tumor treated and has shown it can eradicate cancer. Introgen and VirRx initiated their collaboration in order to develop a series of potential products emanating from VirRx and the Wold laboratory. Pre-clinical testing of INGN 007 is now being completed and the product is being readied for clinical development.

Dr. Wold, professor and chairman of the department of molecular microbiology and president and CEO of VirRx, LLC said, "Our collaboration with Introgen has resulted in the pre-clinical development of an active anti-cancer product that we are eager to introduce into the clinic to further develop the technology. This patent demonstrates our innovation and the novelty of our approach."

Dr. David Parker, Introgen's vice president of intellectual property, said, "This patent represents an important element in our development of a strong oncolytic virus portfolio that will focus on the use of the ADP gene in cancer therapy."