A Phase III study of a Talecris Biotherapeutics plasma product, Gamunex™, yielded positive results when used to treat a debilitating neurological disorder.
Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polytadiculoneuropathy, CIPD, causes damage to the protective covering of nerve cells. The result is often progressive weakness in the arms and legs.
Gamunex is an immunotherapy made from human plasma. In an autoimmune disease like CIDP, it is thought to act by mitigating the body's attack on its own cells, nerve cells in this case.
Patients who took the Gamunex treatment lost less function and feeling in their limbs and in some cases improved their grip strengths and other measures of function. In addition, patients had fewer relapses and retained more muscle function long-term when they stayed on Gamunex.
Talecris sponsored the study, which included 117 patients in North America, South America, Europe and the Middle East. The results were published in the journal The Lancet Neurology.
Talecris has U.S. headquarters in Research Triangle Park and a manufacturing facility in Clayton.