Receptagen: Bringing Apoptosis To The Clinic

As has been mentioned in several previous articles in the Marketletter, renewed interest in the area of programmed cell death or apoptosis is turning out some exciting new approaches to the treatment of life-threatening and poorly-addressed diseases, including cancer and AIDS. One exponent of this new approach, Receptagen, looks to have a potential therapy for HIV infection, CoQ10, which could be of benefit where other modalities have largely failed.

CoQ10 is an enzyme co-factor, found in the body, which is vital to the production of energy in cells, said Charles Morgan, president of Receptagen, at the Medical Investments Northwest meeting in Seattle. The drug and its analogs affect an intracellular signalling process for conducting the information to "turn on" certain enzymes involved in DNA degradation, via an interaction with the production of ATP. It also has antioxidant properties.

Receptagen hopes to demonstrate that supplementation therapy with CoQ10 in HIV-infected patients can prevent the death of HIV-infected cells, especially the CD4-positive T helper cells, and in so doing prevent progression of the infection to AIDS-related complex, AIDS and ultimately death. This approach is backed up by recent evidence which shows that HIV does not necessarily have to be replicating in cells to kill them; rather, it can induce apoptosis in cells simply by binding to them. Furthermore, said Dr Morgan, the initiation of an immune response to one infected cell leads to production of cytokines, probably including interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor, which are inducers of cellular suicide in other cells.