Two released from hospital after drug trial horror

Mar 31 2006

According to staff at Northwick Park Hospital, two of the volunteers being treated there following an extreme reaction during a drug trial, have been released.

Doctors at the hospital, in north-west London, say the two had responded very well to their treatment and made an "excellent recovery".

Six men were left seriously ill after taking part in a trial of the drug TGN1412 at the independent Parexel research unit on March 13th.

All six volunteers had a rapid inflammatory response to the drug and one man remains critically ill while the other three are continuing to make progress.

The hospital says they will continue to visit the hospital as out-patients on a regular basis for check ups and tests.

The three other patients have left Critical Care and are making a good recovery although they continue to receive specialist care and observation.

One patient remains in a critical condition but he has apparently made a gradual improvement over the last week.

The solicitor representing four of the men, says they are hoping for an early meeting with the drug companies to ensure that their clients can get their lives back in order quickly without resorting to the courts.

The medical research firm Parexel, which carried out the tests, insists all procedures were correctly followed.

The case is being investigated by the UK medicines watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

TeGenero, which developed the drug, now says TGN1412 had caused the glands of two monkeys to swell in earlier tests, but said the symptoms differed from those seen in the men's cases.

All the families are being kept informed of developments.