BiondVax, a developer of a universal flu vaccine, has received approval from Hong Kong’s patent office to register its patent concerning Multimeric Multiepitopes for its universal flu vaccine, as well as an approval from the US patent office for the completion of the testing process for patent registration. As part of the US registration process, the patent was found eligible and currently is pending fees.

The patent addresses the vaccine structure and composition as well as the manufacturing methods and the usages of the universal flu vaccine, while providing scope for possible changes in the structure of the protein that is the basis for the universal vaccine. The patent extends and secures the coverage provided by existing patents that protect BiondVax’s intellectual property.

These approvals in Hong Kong and the US build on patent approvals already received in Australia, China, Russia and Mexico. In parallel, the Company is in the process of registering the patent in other locations worldwide such as Europe and Israel.

BiondVax’s business model is to engage in multi-year stockpiling agreements with health organizations and governments around the world, for stockpiling BiondVax’s universal vaccine as a pandemic primer vaccine, agreements that would include completion of clinical trials and regulatory approvals in each country, as needed. Since the appearance of new and potentially pandemic flu strains in humans often occurs in Asia, BiondVax has made sure to secure patent approvals in this region, including in Hong Kong.

BiondVax recognizes an interest and a need among various governments around the world to prepare ahead of time for a flu pandemic. The Company estimates that the clinical information gathered and analyzed by the company to date supports that BiondVax’s universal flu vaccine can serve as a pandemic primer. More specifically, the data indicates that if BiondVax’s universal flu vaccine is given to citizens immediately following a pandemic flu outbreak, and then subsequently the conventional pandemic specific vaccine is administered, the result expected is that more people would be protected against a broader set of flu strains. The Company considers that taking this approach has unique advantages as it enables countries to be prepared right now, ahead of any flu outbreak, so that once the pandemic outbreak is official, the governments could protect their people and keep their country safe –both its health and economy.

“This important patent expands BiondVax’s intellectual property, and will help our goal of signing agreements with governmental organizations,” said Ron Babecoff, CEO of BiondVax. “BiondVax believes it is critical to achieve preparedness for a deadly pandemic flu ahead of outbreak, and that the universal vaccine can already enable governments today to protect their populations for when the pandemic flu breaks out.”

BiondVax is a advanced clinical stage biotech company dedicated to improving global protection against influenza, with its lead product a universal influenza (flu) vaccine called M-001.