Pharmexa Loses European Patent Appeal for Broad Claims to Telomerase-Based Cancer
Vaccines
MENLO PARK, Calif., Sep 04, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Geron Corporation (GERN)
today announced that the Technical Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office
(EPO) has affirmed the decision to revoke the claims of European Patent 1093381
as granted to Pharmexa in 2003.
"We are pleased with the decision," said David J. Earp, J.D., Ph.D., Geron's
chief patent counsel and senior vice president of business development. "It
confirms that Pharmexa cannot obtain a patent to something already covered by
Geron's previously published patent application."
The Pharmexa patent had been granted with broad claims covering the use of
telomerase peptides and nucleic acids for cancer immunotherapy. Geron filed an
opposition requesting that the EPO revoke the patent based, in part, on Geron's
earlier patent filings covering telomerase. In 2005, the Opposition Division of
the EPO revoked the claims of Pharmexa's patent as granted, replacing them with
narrow claims limited to five specific peptide sequences. That decision defeated
Pharmexa's attempt to obtain claims that would read on Geron's telomerase cancer
vaccine, GRNVAC1, which is currently in clinical trials.
Pharmexa appealed the decision to the EPO Technical Board of Appeals ("TBA") and
sought to restore the broad claims by resubmitting a "main request" with the
claims as originally granted, while Geron asked for all claims to be revoked. In
the hearing on Aug. 30, 2007, the TBA found that Pharmexa was not entitled to the
broad claims in its main request, or to the claims of sixteen alternative claim
sets that Pharmexa had also submitted. The TBA found that Pharmexa was only
entitled to claims limited to the five specific small peptides of telomerase,
consistent with the decision of the Opposition Division.
"The decision means that Pharmexa has failed in its attempt to obtain broad
claims to telomerase-based cancer vaccines," continued Earp. "Moreover, Pharmexa
is not licensed under Geron's telomerase patents, which include an issued U.S.
patent and a pending European application covering immunogenic telomerase
peptides. Geron is committed to protecting its investment in telomerase
technology through this patent portfolio."
Geron is developing first-in-class biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer
and chronic degenerative diseases, including spinal cord injury, heart failure,
diabetes and HIV/AIDS. The company is advancing an anti-cancer drug and a cancer
vaccine that target the enzyme telomerase through multiple clinical trials. Geron
is also the world leader in the development of human embryonic stem cell-based
therapeutics, with its spinal cord injury treatment anticipated to be the first
product to enter clinical development. For more information, visit
geron.com. |
