TNOX Tanox (MM)

HOUSTON, Nov. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tanox, Inc. (NASDAQ:TNOX) will present two abstracts on its novel HIV antibody, TNX-355, at the American Society for Microbiology's Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), Dec. 16-19, 2005 in Washington, D.C. The presentations include a late-breaking submission that will further highlight the drug candidate's recently announced Phase 2 Week 24 efficacy results. A second abstract will detail TNX-355's activity against CXCR4 and CCR5 tropic viruses. Additionally, results of in vitro combination studies with enfuvirtide will be highlighted. Phase 2 clinical results showed that TNX-355, when combined with an optimized background regimen, produced a considerably greater reduction in viral load in HIV-infected patients than did placebo in combination with optimized background therapy. The 82-patient clinical trial met its primary endpoint and is continuing to its planned 48-week duration. About TNX-355 TNX-355 is a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to CD4 receptors on the surface of CD4-positive cells, preventing the entry of HIV particles into lymphocytes. TNX-355 is the first antibody in development for the treatment of HIV and AIDS. A Phase 2 clinical study demonstrated that TNX-355, plus optimized background therapy, produces a clinical meaningful reduction in viral load against multiple strains of HIV, without depleting CD4-positive cells. TNX-355 was fast tracked by the Food and Drug Administration in 2003. The fast track designation is designed to expedite approval of therapies for life-threatening diseases and allows for rolling new drug application (NDA) submissions. About Tanox, Inc. Tanox is a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery and development of biotherapeutics based on monoclonal antibody technology. The company develops innovative therapeutic agents for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases, inflammation, infectious disease and cancer. Tanox's first-approved drug, Xolair(R) (omalizumab), is the first anti-immunoglobulin E (anti-IgE) antibody to be brought to market. Xolair was developed in collaboration with Genentech, Inc. and Novartis Pharma AG. Additional corporate information is available at http://www.tanox.com/ . http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050207/TNOXLOGO DATASOURCE: Tanox, Inc. CONTACT: Steve Sievert of Tanox, Inc., +1-713-578-4211, or Web site: http://www.tanox.com/

Copyright