Immune Response Corp. to Drop HIV Drug Study

Immune Response Corp. said Thursday that it’s dropping a study of the Remune HIV treatment after Pfizer Inc.’s Agouron Pharmaceuticals pulled out of a development partnership last month.

Shares of Carlsbad, Calif.-based Immune Response fell 9 cents, or 4%, to close at $2.09 on Nasdaq. The shares plunged 44% on July 6, after Pfizer ended the collaboration.

Pfizer’s move also means Immune Response can no longer expect $30 million in milestone payments to continue Remune’s development.

The drug wasn’t meeting the study’s main goal of reducing levels of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in the bloodstream, the company said. Officials said new results of a Remune study being conducted in Spain appear promising, and Immune Response will try to continue testing the therapy, aimed at boosting the immune system to fight HIV, on its own.

HIV studies are costly, and without a new partner the company will have trouble paying for studies to show Remune works, analysts said. Immune Response has struggled with Remune, which was developed in part by the late Jonas Salk. The company had hoped to win approval for Remune as early as 1993.

“Without a partner, it’s an expensive trial, and they don’t have a lot of cash,” said Alan Auerbach, a Wells Fargo Van Kasper analyst.

The company said in July it had about enough cash to fund operations for six months. Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments fell to $12.6 million as of June 30 from $28 million at the end of 2000.

Immune Response revenue fell to $2.1 million in the first six months of 2001, from $5.2 million in the year-earlier period. The company’s expenses rose to $13 million from $12 million in the same period.

Company officials said Thursday that the final results from a European study support more Remune research.