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ARTICLE | Emerging Company Profile

Inagen: Defense creates offense

Inagen chemokine-toxin conjugate uses CMV's own defenses to kill infected cells

January 17, 2011 8:00 AM UTC

The use of immunotoxins to target and kill specific cells has largely been limited to the field of cancer, but Inagen ApS hopes to use a similar approach to target and kill cytomegalovirus-infected cells. Because its immunotoxin takes advantage of a viral defense mechanism, Inagen hopes the product will be much more potent and less susceptible to resistance than marketed CMV therapies.

CMV infects more than half of all adults, but these infections are generally asymptomatic, except in immunocompromised patients. For example, without prophylactic antiviral therapy, more than 50% of transplant patients develop an active CMV infection. In these patients, CMV may cause organ rejection, is associated with severe morbidity and can result in death if untreated...