Hadassah Physicians Present their Work at the AASLD Annual Conference.
Physicians from the liver unit at Hadassah University Medical Center presented results of their research in the annual conference of the American Society for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), held recently in Boston.
The Hadassah research group included Dr. Gady Lalazar, Dr. Meir Mizrachi and Prof. Yaron Ilan, Head of Department Medicine A at Hadassah, who was recently elected as a member of the Stirring Committee of the European Association for Acute Liver Diseases.
8,000 physicians from all over the world attend the conference in Boston is considered as the most important professional conference on liver diseases in the world.
Hadassah researchers presented the positive results of their Phase I clinical trial for their medication 124-IMM to the annual convention of The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in Boston last week. Prof. Yaron Ilan Director of the Hadassah University Medical Center’s Department Medicine A headed the research team that developed the novel medication.
There currently is no effective medication for Fatty Liver Disease, the most common liver disease in the western world. The disease, which affects 20 percent of the population, can cause severe damage to the liver and lead to cirrhosis and even liver cancer.
Medication 124-IMM is based on the natural antibodies found in colostrum, the milk produced by cows immediately after calving. The Hadassah research demonstrated that the colostrum antibodies have a positive effect on the peoples’ immune systems.
The Phase I trial involved ten patients with Fatty Liver Disease. After treatment with medication 124-IMM, the condition of most of the patients improved. Significantly, there were no side effects and the medication proved safe.
The positive test results will be the basis for a broader research study that will be held in the United States and Israel and involve a greater number of patients. Prof. Arun Sanyal, 2010 AASLD President, approved the research trials, which will be held next year.
Hadasit, the Hadassah Medical Organization’s technology transfer company, played a key role in licensing the Hadassah medication to Immuron Ltd., an Australian biopharmaceutical company. Prof. Ilan serves as the Medical Director of Immuron.
Immuron and Hadassah's researchers are continuing to develop additional colostrum-based treatments for treating other diseases. For which there are no current adequate therapies.