Intellect Neurosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of disease-modifying therapeutic agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases, has filed a lawsuit in the New York State Supreme Court against a top tier global pharmaceutical company for breach of the licensing agreement between the parties.

On May 8, 2012, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted to Intellect a patent covering the company's Antisenilin monoclonal antibody platform technology for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease. Intellect believes that under the terms of a license agreement with the company in question, the issuance of the patent triggered a $2 million milestone payment. The licensee informed Intellect that it does not believe the milestone payment is due under the license agreement.

"The idea that this global pharmaceutical company would attempt to withhold payment of a milestone payment stipulated in a license contract should be exceptionally distressing to every patent holder, especially small biopharmaceutical companies the size of Intellect Neurosciences, whose ability, in this case, to conduct critically important Alzheimer's research is dependent on receiving such payments from its licensees," said Daniel Chain,  chairman and CEO of Intellect. "After exhausting all non-litigious options to secure our $2 million milestone payment, we realized we have no option save pursuing payment via the courts."

The patent discloses therapeutic antibodies to treat or delay onset of Alzheimer's disease and is based on discoveries that stimulated development of monoclonal antibodies that several global pharmaceutical companies have tested as treatments for Alzheimer's disease. The antibodies specifically bind to the ends of the beta amyloid protein without binding to the amyloid precursor protein (APP), which has important advantages compared to antibodies that do not have this feature. Intellect has additional patent applications pending in the United States and in other countries relating to its antibody technology.

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc., develops innovative approaches aimed at arresting or preventing Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases especially focused on proteinopathies. Intellect's pipeline includes therapeutic vaccines, antibodies and neuroprotective antibody drug conjugates.