Avanir Pharmaceuticals announced that a patent relating to Avanir's asthma/allergy programme has been issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office. US Patent (#6,759,425), entitled "Benzimidazole Compounds for Modulating IgE and Inhibiting Cellular Proliferation" covers a broad genus, method of treatment, pharmaceutical composition and method of preparation for Avanir's lead compound, AVP 13358, and its active metabolite.

"The addition of this patent to our intellectual property portfolio reinforces Avanir's position in the field of asthma and allergy therapeutics," said Jagadish Sircar, vice president of Drug Discovery at Avanir Pharmaceuticals. "The newly issued patent provides protection not only for our compound in clinical development, AVP 13358, but for a series of active compounds," he added.

Avanir successfully completed an initial phase I clinical trial with the orally active drug candidate known as AVP 13358 earlier this year. Results of the trial reported in May 2004 indicate that AVP 13358 was well-tolerated at all single rising doses administered to healthy volunteers in the study. The study also demonstrated that AVP 13358 is detectable in the bloodstream at all doses administered and remains in circulation long enough to allow once or twice daily dosing.

Avanir is developing AVP 13358 as a potential treatment for allergy and asthma by targeting IgE and other known mediators of allergy and asthma. Immunoglobulin epsilon, or IgE, is released by the immune system in response to allergen exposure. Avanir's unique approach selectively down-regulates the production of allergen-specific IgE as well as another critical group of mediators called Th2 cytokines that are up-regulated during asthmatic or allergic episodes.