Stock prices for Viragen International Inc. (OTCBB: VGNI) rose from 5 cents to 6 cents a share mid-afternoon – an increase of 68 percent – on Tuesday afternoon after the company released the latest information on their malignant melanoma study.
According to the company’s latest press release, Viragen International’s most recent study at the Umea University in Sweden found that Multiferon — a highly purified, multi-subtype, natural human alpha interferon produced by the human immune system that helps improve the body’s natural resistance to disease – suppressed the development of resistant human melanoma clones far more effectively than recombinant alpha interferon.
A bio-pharmaceutical company with branches in Scotland and Sweden, Viragen International is dedicated to the research, development, manufacture and commercialization of therapeutic proteins for the treatment of cancers and viral diseases. In addition to producing Multiferon, Viragen manufactures a number of other drugs, such as VG102, a monoclonal antibody used against malignant tumors, and VG106, a novel cytokine targeting difficult-to-treat cancers.
In the report, professor Erik Lundgren, head of research at Umea University’s Department of Molecular Biology, said that Multiferon proved far superior to competitor’s product Intron A.
“It is widely known that melanoma cells often develop resistance to recombinant alpha interferon therapies,” Lundgren said. “We observed dramatically different outcomes when comparing Multiferon against Intron A in human melanoma cell lines in vitro, with Multiferon clearly suppressing resistance development far more efficiently than Intron A after four weeks of treatment.”
If this information is true, it could be a great boon to the medical industry. According to cancer-awareness Web site www.melanoma.com, melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer.
“When people spend time in the sunlight, the melanocytes make more melanin and cause the skin to tan,” the organization’s Web site states. “This also happens when skin is exposed to other forms of ultraviolet light (such as in a tanning booth). If the skin receives too much ultraviolet light, the melanocytes may begin to grow abnormally and become cancerous. This condition is called melanoma.”
The American Cancer Society estimated that there were 62,190 new cases of melanoma diagnosed in 2006, and that it causes approximately 7,910 deaths each year.