Intellect Neurosciences receives patent for Alzheimer's disease monoclonal antibody program

Oct 5 2010

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. (OTCBB:ILNS), a biopharmaceutical company with internal preclinical and clinical-stage pipelines, as well as multiple licenses with major pharmaceutical companies covering products in late-stage clinical trials, announced that it has received a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) related to its internal Alzheimer's disease (AD) monoclonal antibody program.

The patent is for two highly specific monoclonal antibodies previously acquired by Intellect from Immuno-Biological Laboratories, Ltd. Each of the antibodies binds a different end of the amyloid beta protein without interacting with the amyloid precursor protein from which amyloid beta is generated. This key safety feature is consistent with the ANTISENILIN^® monoclonal antibody platform for the prevention and treatment of AD invented by Dr. Daniel Chain, Ph.D., Intellect's Chairman and CEO. Intellect has granted royalty-bearing licenses to several top-tier global pharmaceutical companies with products based on the ANTISENILIN^® technology, which are in advanced clinical trials involving several thousand AD patients worldwide.

Dr. Chain commented: "We have had several successes across our patent portfolio in recent months, obtaining four new patent allowances relating to our pipeline. Each new patent increases our potential for attracting partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies. As an example, we are in preliminary discussions with a leading monoclonal antibody company regarding the development of a new antibody technology with applications in AD and other neurodegenerative disorders. Subject to agreement regarding the parameters of the collaboration and its financing, we will use this transforming technology to optimize our humanized monoclonal antibody, IN-N01. We envisage developing a new generation of antibodies for use in AD that have reduced potential to promote inflammation, vasogenic edema and microhemorrhage compared to antibody drugs currently in development by major pharmaceutical companies."

Dr. Giora Feuerstein, M.D., former Head of Discovery Translational Medicine at Wyeth Research and Pfizer who recently joined Intellect as a key consultant, commented: "We are assisting Intellect in its innovation-driven, strategic development plan to produce drugs that will be highly competitive in the market place. The goal in this case is to develop a completely new class of improved antibodies with better safety and efficacy to treat the broadest possible population of AD patients at the earliest stages of the disease, possibly even before it becomes symptomatic. These novel antibodies will substantially expand the repertoire of neutralizing antibodies and enable us to better define and optimize drug efficacy based on pharmacokinetic and safety profiles. Whereas drugs currently in development will require frequent office visits and expensive monitoring for adverse side effects, we envision developing drugs with an improved therapeutic index avoiding the incidence of vasogenic edema and microhemorrhage in the brain. Attainment of our objective would reduce the need for costly office visits and broaden patient access to disease-modifying treatments. The grant of a new patent by the USPTO is an important milestone for this program."