CABO DEL SOL, Mexico, June 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ViroLogic, Inc. (Nasdaq: VLGC) announced today the presentation of 13 studies utilizing its HIV drug resistance technologies by Company scientists and their collaborators at the 12th International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop being held here this week. These studies demonstrate the broad applicability of ViroLogic's platform technology for the assessment of antiretroviral drug resistance and viral replication in diverse clinical and research settings, aiding in improved treatment of HIV infection.

"Through collaborations with leading investigators from academia, government and industry, we continue to define and broaden the clinical utility of ViroLogic's technology, improving the clinician's ability to optimize management of antiretroviral therapy for their patients," said Michael P. Bates, M.D., ViroLogic's Senior Director of Clinical Research. "Additionally, we continue to realize the value of our database to further enhance assessments of antiretroviral resistance in the clinical setting and assist our pharmaceutical colleagues in developing novel drugs to treat HIV infection."

The 13 presentations describe a wide range of studies undertaken by scientists at ViroLogic, both independently and in collaboration with academic and pharmaceutical company scientists. The pharmaceutical collaborations applied ViroLogic's tools and resources, including the Company's virus specimen library, towards the identification and development of novel drug candidates, such as viral entry inhibitors. In addition, several collaborators are presenting evidence demonstrating the use of ViroLogic's database to help validate resistance and cross resistance profiles for new drugs, evaluate replication capacity and develop improved algorithms to predict infectivity and resistance.

Two notable collaborative studies presented at the meeting highlight the diverse applicability of ViroLogic's technologies in distinct HIV populations.

Dr. Susan J. Little and her colleagues at U.C. San Diego applied ViroLogic's PhenoSense(TM), GeneSeq(TM) and Replication Capacity(TM) assays to assess the persistence of transmitted drug resistant variants in the absence of antiretroviral drug treatment among subjects with primary HIV infection. The study demonstrated that drug-resistant viruses can persist for months to years after infection. Transmitted resistance to three classes of antiretroviral drugs demonstrated durable persistence with strong implications for the management of HIV infected individuals who have yet to be treated with antiretroviral drugs.

In the treatment-experienced patient population, sustained immunologic benefits in the absence of fully suppressed viral replication may be explained by diminished levels of T-cell activation. Dr. Peter W. Hunt and colleagues at U.C. San Francisco focused on the relationship between T-cell activation, viral replication capacity and drug resistance in patients undergoing partial or full treatment interruptions. They concluded that in patients with incomplete suppression of viral replication, maintenance of the drug-resistant phenotype and the suppression of viral load below pre-therapy levels are necessary for the continued reduction in T-cell activation and preservation of immunologic benefit in these patients. These data suggest that drug resistant viruses with reduced replication capacity produce less rapid destruction of immune function in patients, supporting the use of phenotypic drug susceptibility and replication capacity testing to manage patients experiencing treatment failure.

"The presentations at this meeting featuring our technology demonstrate further advantages of resistance testing in the management of HIV patients, including those individuals who have not received prior antiretroviral treatment," said Christos J. Petropoulos, Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Development at ViroLogic. "Our strong presence at this prestigious scientific meeting demonstrates ViroLogic's leadership in drug resistance testing and how our technology can be applied to enhance HIV patient management and advance drug development."

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