Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that it has filed aninvestigational new drug (IND) application with the FDA for theuse of an antisense compound to treat cytomegalovirus (CMV)retinitis in patients with AIDS.

CMV retinitis occurs in up to 46 percent of AIDS patients; inmany of these cases, the infection leads to blindness. Currenttherapies only delay disease progression for a short time andare often incompatible with anti-AIDS drugs.

The antisense drug being developed by Isis of Carlsbad, Calif.,is able to prevent the production of an HIV replication protein.Scientists at the company have demonstrated in laboratorystudies that the drug, ISIS 2922, is active against strains of HIVthat are resistant to current drug therapies.

Isis (NASDAQ:ISIP) is co-developing ISIS 2922 in the U.S. andEurope with the Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai Co.Ltd. The two companies have been collaborating on CMVresearch since 1990.

Isis already has one antisense drug, ISIS 2105, in pivotal PhaseII clinical trials for treating human papillomavirus infections.-- Jennifer Van Brunt

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