British Bio-technology Group plc (NASDAQ:BBIOY) announcedlast week that it has started a multicenter Phase II clinical trialof its AIDS drug, p24-VLP, in Europe.

The drug, which is a genetically engineered protein, producedin yeast, is designed to stimulate immunity to the core HIVvirus protein p24. The trial, designed to establish the drug'soptimum dosage, will include 72 asymptomatic HIV patients incenters in Amsterdam, London and Antwerp, Belgium.

British Bio-technology, of Oxford, said that it plans to initiateadditional Phase IIs in 1993 in the U.S., Australia, South Africaand the United Kingdom.

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