EPO Ruling Confirms KAEL-GemVax's Patent Position on GV-1001
SEOUL, South Korea & OSLO, Norway, May 09, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- KAEL-GemVax, a
leading oncology biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the recent
ruling by the European Patent Office dismissing appeals relating to Geron
Corporation's European telomerase patent confirms KAEL-GemVax's patent position
on lead product GV-1001, an anti-telomerase vaccine, currently completing the
TeloVac Phase III trial for pancreatic cancer.
The appeal case number was T 1456/06 and concerned Geron's European patent no:
841396, and in particular the case concerned the outcome of an earlier filed
opposition against the patent. After careful consideration the Technical Board of
Appeal decided that Geron's patent does not sufficiently disclose peptide
vaccines derived from human telomerase protein. The Board therefore affirmed the
first-instance decision that the originally granted patent claims relating to
such peptide vaccines are revoked.
According to KAEL-GemVax's VP Michelle Kim, this decision reaffirms the company's
exclusive right to anti-cancer immunotherapy using GV-1001 and certain other
peptides: "As we come to the conclusion of our pivotal Phase III TeloVac trial
for pancreatic cancer, another clear decision by the European Patent Office, the
interpretation of which must be that we are free to develop and potentially bring
GV-1001 to market."
-ends
SOURCE: KAEL-GemVax
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