GenoMed's third horse with presumed West Nile Virus recovers after treatment

Aug 21 2006

GenoMed has announced that the third horse in its expanded trial for West Nile virus encephalitis recovered markedly within 24 hours after starting GenoMed's treatment.

On Thursday afternoon last week, a horse owner in Fresno, California telephoned GenoMed to say that her horse could no longer walk straight and was falling down. The horse had not been vaccinated for West Nile virus, and the diagnosis by the veterinarian was presumed West Nile virus encephalitis.

Within 24 hours of the first dose of GenoMed's treatment, the horse was chasing other horses away from his food, which they had been eating while he was sick.

West Nile virus encephalitis affects horses more severely than people, and the odds of recovery are slimmer. As with people, recovery from viral encephalitis usually takes at least a week. Recovery within 24 hours, like GenoMed's three horses and most of GenoMed's human patients, is extremely unusual.

Said Dr. Moskowitz, GenoMed's CEO and Chief Medical Officer, "It's always thrilling to see a clinical trial showing great results. Every trial is really just a gamble. Fortunately, this one seems to be continuing to pay off. All our evidence for the past four years, in humans, birds, and now horses, has been extremely positive."

GenoMed's treatment success rate for WNV encephalitis in people is currently 87% (20 of 23 patients improved rapidly). A small case series involving the company's first 8 patients was published in a peer-reviewed medical journal in 2004.

http://www.genomed.com