Angiochem granted U.S. patent for transporting drug compounds across the blood-brain barrier, using novel EPiC technology

Second Umbrella Patent Covers Epic Drugs, Including Peptides and Proteins That Cross the Blood-Brain Barrier

Montreal, Canada, March 15, 2011 –Angiochem, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company, today announced that its second patent has been granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. Patent number 7,902,156, is entitled “Aprotinin Polypeptides for Transporting a Compound Across the Blood-Brain Barrier”. This key patent covers the transport of drug compounds derived from Angiochem’s Engineered Peptide Compound (EPiC) technology, including compounds that contain small molecules, peptides and proteins. EPiC drugs have the potential to efficiently and effectively cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to treat a wide range of brain diseases and brain-related disorders, many of which represent unmet medical needs including brain cancers, pain management, diabetes, obesity and neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

This patent represents a significant milestone in Angiochem’s patent strategy.  This strategy involves pursuing broad coverage to protect the EPiC platform, as well as coverage of the specific therapeutics for disease indications under development.

The patent is in force through July 2025 and represents the second umbrella patent issued to Angiochem for the development of compounds that cross the blood-brain barrier utilizing its novel EPiC technology. The first patent, U.S. patent number 7,557,182, covers EPiC drugs, including GRN1005 (formerly ANG1005) which was licensed to Geron Corp in December 2010 for the treatment of patients with primary and metastatic brain tumors.
 

"With these two umbrella patents we have a solid and enforceable intellectual property estate with claims through 2025,” commented Jean-Paul Castaigne, MD, President and CEO of Angiochem. “Our highly versatile EPiC platform technology overcomes current limitations to the development of novel therapeutics that cross the BBB allowing effective treatments across a wide range of diseases to achieve clinically meaningful outcomes.”

BIO-Europe Spring 2011 Conference // Dr. Castaigne will provide a company update, including potential business development opportunities leveraging Angiochem’s EPiC technology, during his presentation at the BIO-Europe Spring 2011 Conference in Milan, Italy at the Milano Convention Centre,  Room Yellow 2 on Tuesday, March 15 at 11:15am CET.

About Angiochem //Angiochem is a clinical-stage biotechnology company discovering and developing new breakthrough drugs that are leveraging the LRP-1 mediated pathway to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to treat brain diseases. These new Engineered Peptide Compounds (EPiC) have the potential to address significant medical needs, many of which cannot be effectively addressed due to the fundamental physiological challenge the blood-brain barrier presents for therapeutic intervention. Angiochem is developing a deep and broad product pipeline, including small molecules and biologics, for the potential treatment of a wide range of CNS diseases, including brain cancer, neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases, pain, and many others. Founded in 2003, Angiochem maintains headquarters in Montreal, Canada. For additional information about the Company, please visit http://www.angiochem.com.