Magainin Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Tuesday it has identifiedmolecular targets from two genes believed to be regulators of allergicand inflammatory responses characteristic of asthma.

Leonard Jacob, Magainin's chief operating officer, said the PlymouthMeeting, Pa., company has filed U.S. patents on the genes and theirproducts. He added Magainin also has begun developing smallpeptide compounds aimed at blocking the genes' disease-causingeffect, but he will not know until later this year when clinical trialsmay begin.

A research team led by Roy Levitt, director of Magainin's Institutefor Molecular Medicine, made the discoveries building on Levitt'swork in asthma at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

In a paper published in the Oct. 5, 1995, New England Journal ofMedicine, Levitt and his fellow researchers reported a gene within amajor locus on chromosome 5 was linked to bronchialhyperresponsiveness, a characteristic of asthma, and elevatedimmunoglobulin-E (IgE) levels in the blood. The linkage analysisinvolved 303 children and grandchildren of 84 asthma sufferers inThe Netherlands.

Previous linkage analyses, including another Johns Hopkins study of170 members of 11 extended Amish families in 1994, identified thesame chromosomal region and its correlation to elevated IgE levels inpeople with asthma. (See BioWorld Today, May 23, 1994, p. 1.)

Jacob said Levitt, who joined Magainin in January 1996 andestablished its asthma research program, conducted linkage analysesin a variety of populations to find the two genes, called AsthmaAssociated Factor 1 and Asthma Associated Factor 2. No detailsabout the discoveries were disclosed Tuesday. The information isexpected to be submitted to a scientific journal later this year.

Jacob said Magainin publicized finding the genes Tuesday because ofspeculation surrounding Levitt's association with the company andinquiries from companies seeking potential collaborations.

Jacob would not provide specific descriptions of the gene productsbelieved to be linked to bronchial asthma, saying only they areallergic and inflammatory response regulators, including IgE.

Asthma is considered a polygenic disease. Several companies andresearch institutes are searching for asthma genes, including somethat are unrelated to IgE.

Sequana Therapeutics Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., MillenniumPharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., and Myriad GeneticsInc., of Salt Lake City, are among firms involved in the hunt forgenes related to asthma, which affects 5 percent of the U.S.population, or about 13 million people.

IgE is considered a major culprit in triggering allergic responsesfound in both asthma and hay fever. Other immune system molecules,such as interleukin-4 and certain white blood cells, also areimplicated in the allergic response.

Magainin's stock (NASDAQ:MAGN) closed Tuesday at $10.75, up50 cents. n

-- Charles Craig

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.