• 5/11/2006
  • Vienna, VA
  • press release
  • Yahoo Business News (biz.yahoo.com)

CEL-SCI Corporation announces that the results of a long-term survival study of cancer patients treated with CEL-SCI’s drug Multikine® will be presented at a scientific conference during May 2006. Specifically, the data relates to head & neck cancer patients treated with Multikine in a Phase II clinical trial concluded over 3.5 years ago.

Data from the follow-up study indicate that Multikine treatment resulted in a substantial increase in the survival of head & neck cancer patients. In addition, Multikine treatment also improved the local regional control of the patients’ tumors. Improved local regional control of the tumor is considered by many surgeons and oncologists to be an important measurement of the success of a head & neck cancer therapy. Both survival and local regional control of the tumor are stated endpoints in CEL-SCI’s planned Phase III clinical trial.

The Phase II study, which used the same Multikine treatment protocol as proposed for the Phase III trial, included advanced primary head & neck cancer patients who were scheduled for their first cancer treatment. The Multikine treatment was administered for three weeks prior to the standard treatment for head & neck cancer, surgery or surgery plus radiation/chemotherapy. Results from this study were published in a leading cancer publication, the Journal of Clinical Oncology (Timar et al, JCO, 23(15): May 2005).

Head & neck cancer is an aggressive cancer that affects about 500,000 people per annum worldwide. About 92% of those cases are outside of the U.S., and about two thirds of all cases present with advanced disease.

Multikine is a patented immunotherapeutic agent consisting of a mixture of naturally occurring cytokines, including interleukins, interferons, chemokines and colony-stimulating factors, currently being developed for treatment of cancer.

The Company’s lead product Multikine is cleared to enter global Phase III clinical trials in advanced primary head and neck cancer patients (by Canadian Regulators). CEL-SCI’s other products, which are currently in pre-clinical stage and are funded with U.S. government support, have shown protection against a number of diseases in animal tests and are being tested against diseases associated with bio-defense and avian flu.

CEL-SCI Corporation is developing new immune system based treatments for cancer and infectious diseases. The Company has operations in Vienna, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland.