Clinical trials with C 1740, an immunomodulator compound proposed for prevention of acute infectious exacerbations in chronic bronchitis.

C 1740 is an immunmodulating agent of biological origin proposed for the prevention of infectious exacerbations in chronic bronchopathy. The first placebo-controlled double-blind randomized clinical trials have led to opposite conclusions regarding the utility of C 1740. The rate of infectious exacerbations in the placebo group and a large Type II error could explain the "negative clinical trials". However, two out of four "positive clinical trials" were associated with high risk of falsely positive results. The activity of C 1740 is discussed here.