Aethlon Medical, Inc. (AEMD) Approaching A Major Catalyst With Hemopurifier Trial

Two paths could be available to the company at successful completion of this safety proof-of-concept study. The first is to approach the Federal government through Project Bioshield with evidence that the Hemopurifier works. This could lead the way to the stockpiling of the Hemopurifier by the US government in the event of a viral epidemic similar to the Spanish Flu.

The second path is to test the device on a chronic viral pathogen in combination with other drugs to determine if the Hemopurifier increases the effectiveness of conventional antiviral medicines. This opens the door to partnership with HCV companies and other pharmaceutical firms focusing on antivirals.

If Aethlon decides to continue down the HCV path as it has been up to now, then there is cause for optimism. One big advantage that the Hemopurifier has over conventional antiviral HCV therapies is that it is subtractive rather than additive. This means it is much less likely to cause unwanted side effects, as some HCV drug regimens do. Particularly disturbing is the fact that Harvoni, Sovaldi, and Epclusa from Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), Viekira Pak and Technivie from AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV), and other blockbuster hep-C drugs have all been slapped with black box warnings by the FDA due to the risk of them ironically inducing a comeback for hep-B.  This may be due to hep-B opportunistically taking over the territory of a defeated hep-C, or perhaps some other reason.

Whatever it is, the Hemopurifier probably will not encounter this problem, as hepatitis B would be filtered out by the unit just as well, and it shouldn’t induce any unwanted drug interactions.

Where exactly Aethlon Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEMD) goes following the publication of these results remains to be seen, but if this safety trial is successful, then Aethlon is only one pivotal trial away from introducing the world’s first subtractive antiviral therapy to market, and one that could potentially be stockpiled by the US government under Project Bioshield.

Note: This article is written by David Rich and was originally published at Market Exclusive.