iBio Announces New US Patent for iBioLaunch(TM) Technology
NEWARK, Del., Oct. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- iBio, Inc. (IBIO) today
announced notice of issuance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office
for US Patent 8,058,511, entitled "System for Expression of Genes in Plants,"
that further extends iBio's patent coverage of viral vectors comprising its
iBioLaunch(TM) platform. This proprietary technology owned by iBio was developed
by scientists at iBio's research collaborator, the Fraunhofer USA Center for
Molecular Biotechnology (Fraunhofer).
"The issuance of this patent substantially strengthens the intellectual property
foundation of the iBioLaunch system for simultaneously expressing more than a
single protein," said Terence Ryan, Ph.D., iBio's Senior Vice-President. "For
example, this patent protects the technology we use for production of human
monoclonal antibodies, a rapidly growing pharmaceutical category in which we
recently announced successful product candidate testing."
iBio is commercializing its technology by establishing licenses or other
collaboration arrangements both for biosimilar products and proprietary products.
In January 2011, iBio and Fraunhofer entered into a License and Collaboration
Agreement with Fiocruz/ Bio-Manguinhos, an entity linked to the Health Ministry
of Brazil, for the development and sale of a proprietary Yellow Fever Vaccine
based upon the IBioLaunch technology, to replace the chicken egg based vaccine
that Fiocruz has been producing and supplying to Brazil and more than 60 other
nations. Since then, iBio has been advancing and making available other candidate
products based on the iBioLaunch platform for similar license and collaboration
arrangements.
The broad range of iBioLaunch-produced product candidates in clinical or
preclinical development include: (i) human alpha-galactosidase for treatment of
Fabry disease, (ii) the proteins C1 esterase inhibitor and alpha-1 antitrypsin
which are currently derived from human blood plasma, (iii) monoclonal antibodies,
and (iv) vaccines for prevention of yellow fever, influenza, malaria and anthrax.
Additional undisclosed candidates are advancing through iBio's applications
research program.
This additional iBio patent claims a system for expressing multiple
polynucleotides of interest in a plant cell or whole plant using viral vectors
that complement each other's viral functions in the plants. The polynucleotides
can encode chains of a multimeric protein, or can encode therapeutically active
proteins. The patent also describes methods for using the vector system to
produce the desired proteins in plants. Additional iBioLaunch vectors are
described in iBio's earlier US patent 7,491,509 issued in 2009.
About iBio, Inc.
iBio develops and offers product applications of its iBioLaunch(TM) platform,
providing collaborators full support for turn-key implementation of its
technology for both proprietary and biosimilar products. The iBioLaunch platform
is a proprietary, transformative technology for development and production of
biologics using transient gene expression in unmodified green plants. The
technology has been applied successfully to proteins difficult or impossible to
produce with other methods, as well as proteins representative most important
classes of biologic pharmaceuticals. Advantages of the iBioLaunch platform over
other systems include enablement of rapid development and validation of modular,
scalable, and optionally robotic, multi-product manufacturing facilities;
production time measured in weeks instead of months or more; product entry that
is unconstrained by traditional process patents; and significantly lower capital
and operating costs for comparable production. Further information is available
at: ibioinc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements included in this news release related to iBio, Inc. may constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve a number of risks and
uncertainties such as lack of available capital, intellectual property protection
issues, competitive factors, technological development, market demand, and the
Company's ability to obtain new contracts and accurately estimate net revenues
due to variability in size, scope and duration of projects. Further information
on potential risk factors that could affect the Company's financial results can
be found in the company's Reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Contacts:
Corporate:
Robert Erwin, PresidentiBio, Inc.302-355-2335rerwin@ibioinc.com
Investor Contacts:
Douglas Beck, CFOiBio, Inc.302-355-0923ir@ibioinc.com |
