Palatin Technologies, Inc. (NYSE Amex: PTN) announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No. 7,964,181, titled "Amino Acid Surrogates for Peptidic Constructs." The claims in the issued patent cover a series of small molecule mimics for naturally occurring amino acids which can be used as building blocks in drug development. A small molecule mimic claimed in the issued patent is used in making PL-3994, Palatin's lead peptide mimetic natriuretic peptide receptor A agonist, which is in development for treatment of acute exacerbations of asthma, heart failure and refractory or difficult-to-control hypertension.
"The small molecule mimetics we have developed should help in the commercialization of peptide-based drugs," said Carl Spana, Ph.D., Palatin's President and CEO. "Compounds such as our PL-3994 which use small molecule mimetics have extended half-lives, and are resistant to normal clearance mechanisms. This results in a drug candidate that is very potent and has a pharmacological effect much longer than is typically seen with peptides."
PL-3994 and the related family of compounds were discovered and developed by Palatin scientists and are solely owned by Palatin. In addition to this issued U.S. patent, Palatin has a U.S. patent on the PL-3994 composition of matter, and pending applications or issued patents in selected countries outside the United States.
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