Galectin Therapeutics, the leading developer of therapeutics that target galectin proteins to treat fibrosis and cancer, has received a notice of allowance from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a divisional patent of Patent Number 8,236,780 “Galactose-prolonged polysaccharides in a formulation for antifibrotic therapies”. The patent covers key methods of derivation and use for the company’s galactomannan-based carbohydrate galectin inhibitor compounds, for use in patients with chronic liver disease associated with the development of fibrosis, established liver fibrosis or end-stage scarring, or cirrhosis.

Fibrotic disease of the liver is highly prevalent in the population because all chronic liver diseases, including viral hepatitis, fatty liver and alcohol abuse, result in fibrosis of the liver for which there are no currently approved pharmaceutical therapies.

“This patent broadens Galectin Therapeutics’ intellectual property to include two distinct classes of galectin inhibitors for the treatment of liver fibrosis, a highly prevalent and critical medical condition with no approved treatments other than transplantation,” said Peter G Traber, MD, president, CEO and CMO of Galectin Therapeutics. “The intellectual property protection for our galactomannan (GM)-based compounds augments our IP portfolio, which already contains coverage for galacto-rhamnogalacturonan (GR)-based compounds, thus enabling a pipeline of candidates with drugs from each class that can be evaluated for the treatment of fibrosis.”

“GM-CT-01, our first galactomannan-based compound, has demonstrated an excellent safety profile in over 100 patients and could be moved rapidly forward in phase II clinical trials in fibrosis,” commented Traber. “GM-CT-01 could be useful as a follow-on compound to GR-MD-02, our lead clinical compound in fibrosis, for stand-alone or combination therapeutic approaches. Preclinical results of both our GM- and GR-based candidates have shown reversal of fibrosis in rodent models of disease.”

The major claim is for a method of obtaining the galectin inhibitor compound, obtaining a composition for parenteral administration in an acceptable pharmaceutical carrier and administering to a subject having at least one of the following: chronic liver disease associated with the development of fibrosis, established liver fibrosis or cirrhosis. The use covers inhibiting or slowing the progression of fibrosis or the reversal of fibrosis.