Alchemia Ltd. announces the granting of the first two patents in the "Synthetic Heparin Oligosaccharide" family of patents. Australian patent 2002331426 and divisional patent 2007203325 were recently sealed by IP Australia.

A further two divisional applications (2008200567 and 2008200616) have completed the examination process and have been accepted to grant. Both of these are expected to be sealed in the next few months. These patents are currently being examined in other major markets, an Alchemia press release stated.

Vice president of intellectual property for Alchemia, Michael West, said "This patent family provides legal protection for Alchemia's processes for the synthesis of fondaparinux sodium through to 6 September 2022. These patents and the corresponding applications in other jurisdictions provide a good framework to protect our industrial synthesis of fondaparinux.

We are looking forward to the successful US launch of the drug with our marketing partner Dr Reddy's Inc." Alchemia and its manufacturing partner Dr Reddy's Limited have made significant progress towards commercialization of fondaparinux, with approval and launch expected in the first half of 2009, depending on review time at the FDA.

Alchemia is a drug discovery and development company founded on its chemistry expertise. The company's lead programme is fondaparinux (synthetic heparin, a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's Arixtra which will generate near term revenues and was recently partnered with Dr Reddy's Laboratories Inc. for the US market.