Biomira Signs Collaborative Research Agreement for Cancer Vaccine Development
Company Also Licenses Additional Patents for THERATOPE(R) Vaccine
EDMONTON, Alberta, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Biomira Inc. (Nasdaq: BIOM) (Toronto, Montreal: BRA) today announced it has entered into a collaborative research agreement and licensed two patents involving a vaccine method of preventing cancer cells from growing and replicating.
The Company signed a research agreement with and licensed patents from Dr. Sen-itiroh Hakomori of Seattle's Biomembrane Institute. Professor Hakomori has an outstanding international reputation and is a pioneer in the field of carbohydrate antigens and their application in the field of immunotherapy. Biomira is proud to be collaborating with a scientist of Professor Hakomori's standing. The addition of the patents, which have issued in the U.S. and are pending in Japan and Canada, supplement Biomira's current patent portfolio on THERATOPE(R) vaccine, and upon issuance, will provide additional protection for the product in Japan.
"Professor Hakomori and his institute have a great deal of expertise in active-specific immunotherapy, and we expect his research will add value to Biomira's ongoing projects," said Alex McPherson, M.D., Ph.D, President and CEO of Biomira. "His discoveries associated with these patents provide us with strategic (composition of matter) patent rights in Japan, as well as expanded protection in the U.S. and Canada. We are also in a position to benefit from any optimization or new discoveries associated with the research collaboration."
The two patents Biomira is acquiring cover methods to prevent growth and replication of cancer cells that express a mucin-type glycoprotein. These patents add to and strengthen Biomira's current patent portfolio. Under the collaborative research agreement, Biomira's financial responsibilities include funding of research at the Institute in quarterly installments over a five-year period, with no royalties attached to any product sales. Biomira will also have the exclusive right to negotiate a license to any technology that comes out of this research collaboration.
Biomira is a biotechnology company specializing in the development of innovative therapeutic approaches to cancer management. The Company is currently enrolling up to 950 patients in a multinational Phase III trial with THERATOPE(R) vaccine, as well as developing a portfolio of complementary vaccine candidates, including BLP25 for non-small cell lung cancer, now in Phase II trials. The commitment to the treatment of cancer currently focuses on the development of synthetic vaccines and novel strategies for cancer immunotherapy. We are The Cancer Vaccine People(TM). |
