Intellect Neurosciences, Inc has received a Notice of Allowance from the Israeli Patent and Trademark Office for a new patent related to the company's clinical-stage drug candidate OX1 (OXIGON), which has disease-modifying potential for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disorders.
OX1, which has been successfully tested by the company in human phase I safety trials, is an orally-administered, brain-penetrating, naturally-occurring copper-binding small molecule targeting multiple mechanisms that contribute significantly to the underlying pathology of Alzheimer's disease.
The Notice of Allowance is a written communication from the patent office stating that the application has been allowed and will be granted as an Israeli patent after payment of the Government issue fee. Jointly owned by New York University and the University of South Alabama and licensed exclusively to Intellect, patents for this invention have issued in the United States, Europe, and several other countries and are pending in Canada, Japan and Mexico.
Dr Chain commented: "The Notice of Allowance of a new patent in Israel relating to OX1 further strengthens our overall intellectual property portfolio and the competitive advantage of our internal drug development pipeline, which boasts clinical stage and preclinical programs. OX1 is the most advanced candidate in our pipeline and we are excited about its potential to slow down or arrest Alzheimer's disease in the early stages by stabilizing amyloid beta in non-toxic form and preventing oxidative damage leading to inflammation and cell death."
The development of the OXIGON compound has been supported in part by the National Institute of Aging, the BIRD Foundation and The Institute for the Study of Aging. Intellect is developing OXIGON as a drug candidate for Alzheimer's disease and is exploring additional indications. The drug has disease-modifying potential because it has potent antioxidant activity and also can prevent aggregation, neurotoxicity and deposition of amyloid beta. The molecule was recently shown to act by a copper-binding mechanism, providing important insight into how the drug neutralizes neurotoxicity in the brain. OXIGON has been tested in human Phase 1 trials for safety and tolerability at various doses and durations in a total of 90 elderly, healthy volunteers. The next planned stage of testing will be in patients with Alzheimer's disease. OX1 has broad potential for use in the treatment of other neurodegenerative conditions, such as Parkinson's disease and motor neuron disease.
Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. is a Manhattan-based biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of disease-modifying therapeutic agents for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease and other disorders.