Imugene Ltd has been awarded a notice of allowance from the Chinese Patent Office, giving it intellectual property protection in Asia’s largest market. The protection is for patent application number 201880064280.9, which protects the CD19-expressing oncolytic virus, onCARlytics.
Titled “Oncolytic Virus Expressing a CAR-T cell target and uses thereof”, the patent protects the method of composition, and method of use of onCARlytics through to 2038.
Growing patent portfolio
"Intellectual property has remained a priority for our innovative range of immuno-oncology assets, and to have onCARlytics protected in a major market like China is an integral part of this strategy,” Imugene managing director and CEO Lesie Chong said.
The company has already secured patents for its oncolytic viral therapy CF33 (VAXINA) in China, South Korea and Japan.
The new patent offers IMU an exclusive licence for its OnCARlytics platform, which is a CD19-expressing oncolytic virus that enters solid tumour cells and forces them to express the CD19 protein on the cell surface, presenting an opening for CD19-targeting therapies to identify and attack.
Diagram of oncolytic virus application
The company is conducting the OASIS dose escalation trial for onCARlytics at up to ten sites in the US, with about 40 patients expected to take part in the trial.
Read: Imugene Phase 1 onCARlytics trial doses first patient in intratumoural combination arm
“With CD19 being a well-established target in blood cancers, we are optimistic about the effectiveness it could show in solid tumours,” Chong said in an earlier statement about the OASIS trial.