Poolbeg Pharma PLC (AIM:POLB, OTC:POLBF, FRA:POLBF), the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has received a Canadian patent approval covering the use of its POLB 001 drug candidate in preventing cancer immunotherapy-induced cytokine release syndrome (CRS), a potentially life-threatening immune overreaction triggered by certain cancer treatments.
The grant is the second national approval within Poolbeg's CRS patent family, following a ruling by IP Australia in March 2026.
It covers the use of any p38 MAPK inhibitor, including POLB 001, for the prevention of immunotherapy-induced CRS, and is supported by proprietary data generated by the company.
The application was accelerated through the Patent Prosecution Highway, a mechanism that allows expedited examination in participating countries where a favourable ruling has already been secured elsewhere.
Poolbeg filed its initial oncology patent applications in the UK in January 2023 before entering the international Patent Cooperation Treaty system a year later.
The company's intellectual property portfolio now spans both cancer immunotherapy-induced CRS and severe influenza across multiple jurisdictions, with further territories under pursuit.
Chief executive, Jeremy Skillington, said the patent enhances POLB 001's appeal to potential partners, particularly ahead of interim data from the TOPICAL trial, a study investigating POLB 001 as a preventative for CRS in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma patients, expected this summer.