Intellect Neurosciences receives patent for Alzheimer's disease vaccine

Aug 11 2010

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc (OTCBB:ILNS) a biopharmaceutical company with an internal preclinical and clinical-stage pipeline and licenses with major pharmaceutical companies covering products in late-stage clinical trials, announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office related to RV01 and RV02, the Company's two lead vaccine candidates. The Notice of Allowance is a written communication stating that the patent application has been allowed and will be granted as a new patent. RV01 and RV02, generated using the Company's RECALL-VAX technology, have the potential to delay the onset of or prevent Alzheimer's disease in individuals susceptible by age, genetic or other risk factor. Patents previously have been issued in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and patents are pending in Canada and Israel.  

Dr. Daniel Chain, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Intellect, commented, "Many view a vaccine of this nature, which is analogous to a flu shot, as the ultimate quest in Alzheimer's research. This new patent should increase interest from potential strategic partners to collaborate with Intellect on the RECALL-VAX program. Alzheimer's disease remains the largest unmet medical need in neurology, with existing Alzheimer's treatments only easing symptoms of the disease. This patent is indicative of the type of innovative research at Intellect aimed at discovering drugs that can fundamentally transform the way Alzheimer's disease is treated and ultimately prevent the onset of the disease. The Notice of Allowance is another important milestone for Intellect. It heralds a bold new approach that may drastically reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's disease for the 115.4 million people who are expected to suffer from the disease by 2050." 

Professor Benjamin Chain, Department of Immunology, UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences, London, UK, is the inventor of the RECALL-VAX technology. Professor Chain, brother of Intellect CEO Dr. Daniel Chain, is a member of the Company's scientific advisory board.  

Intellect presented the first animal data regarding RECALL-VAX in August 2007 at the 13th International Congress of Immunology in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. "We demonstrated in preliminary animal studies that we can use this method of vaccination to generate highly specific antibodies in blood that bind Aβ toxin, which accumulates in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, while avoiding binding to the Amyloid Precursor Protein, which has important physiological functions in the brain and other tissues," added Daniel Chain. "This vaccine could achieve the goal of a safe immunotherapy for Alzheimer's disease, providing prevention in at-risk populations. To the best of our knowledge, no other vaccine in development guarantees specificity for Aβ, which is necessary to avoid possible toxicities that may manifest over time."