Allelix Biopharmaceuticals Inc. has received approval fromCanadian regulatory authorities to begin a Phase I/II trial of itstranscription targeted drug, ALX40-4C, in HIV patients.

The Mississauga, Ontario, company said it expects to start the 40-patient trial in January. HIV-positive patients will receiveadministrations of one of five doses of the drug three times per weekfor one month. The trial will assess safety and tolerance of ALX40-4C as well as its viral activity as measured by various surrogatemarkers.

The intent is to block the binding of the viral protein tat and the RNAstructure TAR by binding to the TAR structure. This preventstransactivation and subsequent viral replication.

"It's another mechanism of action, and that's a point of novelty,"Graham Strachan, the company's president and CEO, told BioWorld."Allelix is the only company pursuing tat inhibitors in a clinicaltrial."

He said results of the trial should be fully analyzed by the fourthquarter of 1995. _ Jim Shrine

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