Meditrina licensor AstraZeneca granted US allowance of patent for endometriosis treatment

Sep 10 2010

Meditrina Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage, specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies that treat women's reproductive system disorders, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a notice of allowance of a patent entitled "Composition Comprising a Combination of an Aromatase Inhibitor, a Progestin, and an Oestrogen and its Use for the Treatment of Endometriosis" to the Company's licensor AstraZeneca. The patent claims are directed to the use of anastrozole in combination with an estrogen and a progestin and protect Meditrina's endometriosis product MPI-676.

"The allowance of this patent to our licensor AstraZeneca is a significant step forward in the protection of our approach to treating endometriosis with our proprietary endometriosis product, MPI-676," said Thomas A. Collet, president and CEO. "This patent also extends protection for MPI-676 in the world's largest pharmaceutical market in addition to Europe, Australia, China, Indonesia and South Africa, where patents have issued already."  

Endometriosis is a serious medical condition where endometrial stroma and glands that are normally present in the uterine cavity are found in other parts of the body.  Endometriosis lesions can be found anywhere in the pelvic cavity.  The most common symptom of endometriosis is pelvic pain, which often correlates to the menstrual cycle, but a woman with endometriosis may also experience pain that doesn't correlate to her cycle.  For many women, the pain of endometriosis is so severe and debilitating that it significantly impacts their daily lives.

It is estimated that seven to 10 percent of all women are affected by endometriosis, including 70 to 87 percent of women with chronic pelvic pain and 30 to 40 percent of all infertile women.  Chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea (painful periods) and dyspareunia (painful intercourse) are common symptoms of endometriosis.  There are several medical treatment options, including danazol, GnRH agonists and progestins, each of which have limitations associated with patient response, tolerability, side-effect profile and duration of treatment.