Japanese Patent granted for Pharmalink AB's Nefecon

Japanese Grant Supports Asian Partnering Programme

Pharmalink AB announced today that it has been granted Japanese Patent No 4326696, "Methods and means for treating glomerulonephritis" for its product Nefecon(R) which is being developed to treat IgA nephropathy, a glomerulonephritis leading to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Counterparts of the patent have been issued for other territories including the EU, US and China.

Pharmalink's Managing Director Johan Haggblad said, "We now have IP protection for the Nefecon(R) principle in the major pharmaceutical markets. We are particularly happy about the addition of Japan as we are actively seeking product development partners for Asia. Asia is of high importance for Nefecon(R) as Japan and China represent areas with significant prevalence of IgA nephropathy. With strengthened product protection we are even better positioned to attract partners and thereby reach out to patients in Asia."

Pharmalink AB previously announced highly promising results from a planned interim analysis of an ongoing open Phase II trial which was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Nefecon(R) in IgA nephropathy, a glomerulonephritis leading to end-stage renal disease. The interim results were confirmed in the final results obtained in early 2009. Nefecon(R) is an oral small molecule product which downregulates the inflammatory process in the kidneys. It is being co-developed by Pharmalink and Archimedes Pharma under a partnership agreed in January 2004 to bring the product candidate to proof-of-concept.

The concept underlying the renal disease product candidate Nefecon is a patented invention by Professors Bengt Fellstrom and Roger Hallgren at Uppsala University, Sweden. It is delivered using Archimedes' proprietary TARGIT(R) drug delivery technology which enables the localized delivery of drugs to the lower small intestine or colonic regions of the gut. Archimedes is providing access to the TARGIT platform and providing all trial supplies of Nefecon. Pharmalink is responsible for the management of the clinical trials.