Biodel issued U.S. patent for VIAject and VIAtab

Sep 27 2007

Biodel Inc. has announced the receipt of a notice of issuance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the Company's patent encompassing VIAject(TM) and VIAtab(TM), Biodel's two product candidates in clinical trials.

The notice of issuance provides that U.S. Patent No. 7,279,457 will issue on October 9, 2007. The patent will expire in January 2026.

"This patent validates Biodel's proprietary rights in our VIAdel(TM) technology and will protect our company's current clinical stage product candidates, VIAject(TM) and VIAtab(TM)," stated Dr. Solomon S. Steiner, Chairman and CEO of Biodel. "In addition, this patent represents a significant milestone in our strategy to build our intellectual property portfolio."

VIAject(TM) is a rapid-acting injectable human insulin intended for meal- time use by patients with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. In Phase I and Phase II clinical trials, VIAject(TM) has been shown to have a more rapid onset of activity than those reported for the existing rapid-acting insulin analogs. As a result, VIAject(TM) may be safer, require a lower dose and promote weight loss when compared to currently marketed meal-time insulins. VIAject(TM) is currently being tested in two pivotal Phase III clinical trials, which are comparing the effects of VIAject(TM) to Humulin(R) R, the leading recombinant human insulin.

VIAtab(TM) is a sublingual tablet formulation of insulin, currently in Phase I clinical trials. VIAtab(TM) demonstrated encouraging safety and pharmacokinetic profiles in Phase I clinical testing.