USPTO grants four key patents for Alvine's proteases to detect celiac disease

May 19 2011

Alvine Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of autoimmune and gastrointestinal diseases, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued four key patents: 7,943,312; 7,928,056; 7,923,532; and 7,910,541, protecting various aspects of Alvine's core technology. These patents cover gluten degradation with gluten-specific proteases, methods for identifying proteases useful in degrading gluten and reagents for diagnosing celiac disease. Alvine has an exclusive worldwide license to these patents from Stanford University.

The patents provide additional intellectual property protection around ALV003, which is in Phase 2 clinical development in patients with celiac disease. In addition, they also provide protection for: the use of other proteases to degrade gluten into non-immunogenic fragments, methods for identifying such proteases, and methods for degrading gluten ex vivo and in vivo. In the diagnostic area, they provide protection for reagents that may be useful in new diagnostic methods to detect celiac disease.

"The issuance of these patents is a significant achievement for Alvine as they provide further intellectual property protection for the company's protease development program," said Abhay Joshi, Ph.D., Alvine's President and Chief Executive Officer. "With our strong patent portfolio and ongoing clinical trials of ALV003, Alvine is building a strong foundation for the successful development of proteases as potential therapeutic agents."