VimRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Tuesday said it will expandPhase I testing of its hypericin drugs in AIDS to Boston BethIsrael and the University of Minnesota hospitals.

In vitro studies of the drug showed it to prevent the spread ofHIV from infected to uninfected cells.

Stamford, Conn.-based VimRx has exclusive rights to allapplications of hypericin technology developed at New YorkUniversity and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.

Phase I trials began in October at NYU and are designed toassess drug tolerance, although any anti-HIV effect will benoted.

Hypericin, derived from the plant Saint-Johns wort, has alsoshown activity against herpes virus and cytomegalovirus.

VimRx stock (NASDAQ:VMRX) closed unchanged at $1.38.

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