GB1300567A - Therapeutic compositions - Google Patents

Abstract

1300567 Anti-viral material from Penicillium stoloniferum BEECHAM GROUP Ltd 9 Dec 1970 [20 Dec 1969] 62172/69 Heading A5B Animals other than human beings are protected against virus infection by administering to the animal a composition consisting of or comprising virus-like particles obtained from the mould Penicillium stoloniferum. Preferably the composition contains both virus-like particles and free double-stranded ribonucleic acid or a salt thereof, said RNA being obtained from the virus-like particles of the mould Penicillium stoloniferum. The compositions may be administered topically or by systemic injection to the animal before it becomes infected with the infective virus and may be administered on repeated occasions during the period when the animal is susceptible to infection. Protection has been achieved in a variety of animals, e.g. against Coxsackie B1 virus, Semliki Forest virus, vaccinia virus, foot and mouth disease virus, vesicular stomatitis virus, rabies virus and influenza virus. Virus-like particles having antiviral activity can be extracted from a medium in which the mould Penicillium stoloniferum has been grown by separating the mycelium of the mould from a culture medium in which it has been grown, treating the culture medium with RNA or a salt thereof, adjusting the pH of the resulting liquor to a pH of 3 to 6, separating the resulting precipitate from the supernatant, concentrating and purifying a suspension of the precipitate, e.g. by ultrafiltration and differential sedimentation, to yield the virus-like particles. Double-stranded RNA can be extracted from the virus-like particles so obtained by deproteinisation.