Drug Discovery and Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Women in Pharma and Biotech
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • Resources
    • Video features
    • Podcast
    • Voices
    • Webinars
  • Pharma 50
    • 2025 Pharma 50
    • 2024 Pharma 50
    • 2023 Pharma 50
    • 2022 Pharma 50
    • 2021 Pharma 50
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Argos Therapeutics Initiates Phase 2 Proof-of-Concept Trial for its Arcelis Personalized Immunotherapy Platform in HIV

By Drug Discovery Trends Editor | May 14, 2008

DURHAM, N.C. – May 12, 2008 – Argos Therapeutics announced the initiation of a Phase 2a proof-of-concept clinical trial to test the efficacy of its AGS-004 therapy in improving immune control of viral replication in HIV-infected adults. AGS-004 is a product of the Company’s Arcelis technology, a personalized, RNA-loaded dendritic cell-based immunotherapy that is perfectly matched to each patient’s unique HIV viral burden.  The target population for the study is HIV-1 infected patients with durable viral suppression from active antiretroviral therapy (ART).

“New HIV treatments, such as AGS-004, that could complement ART, provide a break or reduce the duration of ART, or even replace ART in some cases, would be a welcome addition to the available treatments for HIV,” said Lothar Finke, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Argos.  “Although treatment with ART raises T-cell counts and improves patient immune function, its use does not improve the immune system’s ability to control HIV replication, which we believe AGS-004 is able to do.”

“The initiation of this proof-of-concept trial demonstrates our continued progress in the development of breakthrough immunotherapy-based treatments,” said John Bonfiglio, Ph.D., President and CEO of Argos. “We believe that our personalized approach may overcome the lack of specific immune response to a broad range of HIV antigens seen with other HIV immunotherapies to date. Argos’ Arcelis technology platform loads autologous dendritic cells with patient-specific antigens from whole viral RNA, which induces extensive, potent immune targeting of distinct variants of the HIV virus in each patient.”

In April, Argos reported positive safety and feasibility data from the Phase 1 trial of AGS-004 in HIV-infected adults on ART. The Company plans to present full Phase 1 trial results, including immune response data, at the International AIDS Conference in August 2008. 

About the AGS-004 Phase 2a Trial in HIV
Approximately 34 subjects with HIV who are currently receiving ART will be enrolled in the Phase 2a trial. The study will be conducted at up to 15 sites in North America. The primary study objective is to assess the efficacy of AGS-004 therapy in improving immune control of HIV-1 replication. Secondary objectives include evaluating the safety and tolerability of AGS-004, exploring its immunologic activity, and investigating the mechanism of action for AGS-004. This study is supported by the Canadian Institute of Health Research, Canadian Clinical Trials Network and the National Institutes of Health (USA). The development of AGS-004 is part of Argos’ broad collaboration with Kirin Pharma Company, Ltd.

Arcelis Technology
Arcelis is Argos’ proprietary technology for personalizing RNA-loaded dendritic cell immunotherapies for HIV, other infectious diseases, and cancer. This platform is based on optimizing a patient’s own (autologous) dendritic cells to trigger a pathogen- or tumor-specific immune response. To address the challenge of the unique genetic profile of each patient’s disease and the genetic mutations of that disease, Argos loads the autologous dendritic cells with a sample of messenger RNA (“mRNA”) isolated from their disease. Through this process, dendritic cells can potentially prime immune responses to the entire antigenic repertoire, resulting in an immunotherapeutic that is customized to the patient’s specific disease.

About Argos Therapeutics, Inc.
Argos is an immunotherapy company developing new treatments for cancer, infectious and autoimmune diseases, and transplantation rejection.  The Company has generated multiple platform technologies and a diverse pipeline of products based on its expertise in the biology of dendritic cells – the master switch that turns the immune system on or off.
www.argostherapeutics.com


Filed Under: Drug Discovery

 

Related Articles Read More >

Sanders, King target DTC pharma ads but the industry worries more about threats to its $2B R&D model
Zoliflodacin wins FDA nod for treatment of gonorrhea
FDA approved ENFLONSIA for the prevention of RSV in Infants
First clinical study results of Dupixent for atopic dermatitis in patients with darker skin tones 
“ddd
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest news and trends happening now in the drug discovery and development industry.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
Drug Discovery and Development
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • Medtech100 Index
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Medical Design & Outsourcing
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Subscribe to our E-Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • R&D World
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Drug Discovery & Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Women in Pharma and Biotech
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • Resources
    • Video features
    • Podcast
    • Voices
    • Webinars
  • Pharma 50
    • 2025 Pharma 50
    • 2024 Pharma 50
    • 2023 Pharma 50
    • 2022 Pharma 50
    • 2021 Pharma 50
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE