Propanc Health Group Corporation (Propanc), an emerging healthcare company, announced that the company received a notification of allowance for its lead patent application from the US Patent Office. The patent application provides broad coverage for a method of treating a solid tumor through administering a pharmaceutical composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen to patients.

The allowance of this key patent application is a first in the US, representing a major milestone for the company as it progresses its lead product, PRP, a solution for once daily intravenous administration of pancreatic proenzymes, towards first-in-man studies in 2017. Further, the company plans to file a continuation application with the US Patent Office to pursue additional claims based off the initial allowed application.

"An allowance of a key patent application in the US is a significant event in the life of any company, particularly a biotech, and we are delighted to have achieved this milestone which provides broad protection for our lead product, PRP, for the treatment of solid tumors," said James Nathanielsz, Propanc's chief executive officer. "We have filed numerous patent applications around the world in the past 12 to 18 months, with further applications expected. All of this represents a strong result for our shareholders who wait for progression of PRP into first-in-man studies this year. We firmly believe PRP is a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of metastatic cancer from solid tumors, which represents 80% of all cancers, and we are the leaders in this field of technology from an IP perspective, which is very exciting."

The company's lead product, PRP, is a novel, patented, formulation consisting of two pancreatic proenzymes -- trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen. Currently in formal preclinical development and progressing towards first-in man studies, PRP aims to prevent tumor recurrence and metastasis in solid tumors. Eighty percent of all cancers are solid tumors and metastasis is the main cause of patient death from cancer. The company's initial target patient populations include pancreatic, ovarian and colorectal cancers.

Propanc is developing new cancer treatments for patients suffering from pancreatic, ovarian and colorectal cancers. The company have developed a formulation of anti-cancer compounds, which exert a number of effects designed to control or prevent tumors from recurring and spreading throughout the body.