Immune Response BioPharma has issued a press release (Jan. 7, 2013) citing its 2012 highlights and its goals for 2013. The Immune Response Corp began originally under Dr. Jonas Salk in 1986-87 seeking a vaccine to treat HIV. By April, 1990 the biotechnology company had filed to hold a 2.2-million share initial public stock offering that was expected to raise as much as 19.8 million. By September, 1991, Immune Response was the hottest biotechnology issue on the market with shares climbing from a January 1991 price of $2.875 to $32.625 in over-the-counter trading based on its HIV therapeutic vaccine which was said to be in the advanced stages of clinical trails. In 1998 Immune Response signed a deal with Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc. a unit of Pfizer as a developing and marketing pact for its AIDS drug.
The problem was that the test results were either disappointing or were challenged as being poorly designed and therefore unreliable. By July 7, 2001 shares of Immune Response plunged 44% after Pfizer discontinued development of the drug and ended its association with Immune. By September 2002, Dennis Carlo, the companies CEO had resigned and the company was forced to cut half its staff. The company's auditors publicly questioned the ability of Immune Response to continue to operate. Despite years and years of testing and research the company was still unable to prove that Remune, the vaccine it developed to treat HIV, was effective. In March of 2007 the company had moved on and was injecting its first patient in a large multi-center Phase II study of NeuroVax(TM) its multiple sclerosis vaccine. NeuroVax(TM) was based on the company's patented T-cell receptor peptide vaccine technology.
By October 2008 the company had filed for bankruptcy. At the time the company listed $32.61 million in liabilities and $1.64 million in assets. Now, in 2013, nearly 27 years after Dr. Salk first founded the company Immune Response continues trying to prove the value of Remune and NeuroVax as well as other vaccines developed by the company years ago. It claims to to have plans to partner with large pharma partners and to be on track for record growth and profits in the future. Financing for the company for now remains a mystery as does the results of any recent studies.
