Cynata Therapeutics (ASX:CYP) has received the Notice of Allowance from the U.S. patent office for a patent application tied to its proprietary Cymerus™ stem cell technology.
This patent application covers an important element of Cynata’s stem cell manufacturing technology.
The technology is among the intellectual property licensed exclusively from the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) to Cynata.
Importantly, the new patent application addresses a critical shortcoming in existing methods of production of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for cellular therapies.
Cynata is developing cellular therapies to treat graft v host disease (GvHD), respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease and a number of other serious conditions.
The phase I clinical trial in GvHD has already commenced in the UK and Australia.
The inventors named on the patent are Dr Maxim Vodyanyk and professor Igor Slukvin, founders, advisors and shareholders of Cynata.
Cynata anticipates that the patent will be granted by October 2017, with an expiration date of 1 February 2028.
Earlier this year the company announced a breakthrough strategic agreement with Fujifilm which included the Japanese company investing A$4 million in Cynata to become its largest shareholder.
The global regenerative medicine market was worth US$18.9 billion in 2016 and is expected to grow to over US$53.7 billion by 2021.
Stem cells are considered as the cornerstone of contemporary regenerative medicine applications.