Intellect Neurosciences receives Notice of Allowance for new OXIGON patent in Canada

Aug 9 2010

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc (OTCBB:ILNS) announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the Canadian Patent and Trademark Office for a new patent related to OX1 (OXIGON™), the Company's clinical-stage drug candidate that has disease-modifying potential for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disorders. OX1 is an orally-administered, brain-penetrating, naturally-occurring, copper-binding small molecule targeting multiple mechanisms that contribute significantly to the underlying pathology of Alzheimer's disease. The Company has successfully tested OX1 in human Phase I safety trials, providing initial positive data on safety and tolerability of the drug.

The Notice of Allowance is a written communication from the patent office stating that the application has been allowed and will be granted as a Canadian patent. Patents for OX1 have been issued in the United States, Europe and other countries and are pending in Japan and Mexico. The patents are jointly owned by New York University and the University of South Alabama and are licensed exclusively to Intellect Neurosciences.

Dr. Daniel Chain, Intellect's Chairman and CEO, commented: "OX1 is the most advanced candidate in our internal pipeline and has the potential to slow down or arrest Alzheimer's disease in the early stages by stabilizing amyloid beta in non-toxic form and preventing oxidative damage leading to inflammation and cell death.  Moreover, based on OX1's mechanism of action, we believe it has applications for other disease indications as well. The Notice of Allowance of a new patent in Canada relating to OX1 strengthens our intellectual property portfolio and the competitive advantage of our internal drug development pipeline, which boasts clinical stage and preclinical programs.  Our goal is to develop OX1 through strategic relationships with major pharmaceutical companies from whom we could obtain R&D funding and revenues from license fees, milestone payments, and royalties. We intend to build off of our previous successes in granting royalty-bearing licenses to major pharmaceutical companies that are developing drugs in Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease."