CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 25, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ( MNTA), a biotechnology company specializing in the characterization and engineering of complex drugs, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No. 8,470,318, entitled "Polypeptides With Enhanced Anti-inflammatory and Decreased Cytotoxic Properties and Related Methods," to The Rockefeller University. Momenta is the exclusive licensee of the patent. The patent claims methods of inhibiting inflammation using intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG)-derived, sialylated Fc regions and expires in 2028.
Momenta is developing the sialylation technology, which originated in the laboratory of Jeffrey Ravetch, M.D., Ph.D., Theresa and Eugene M. Lang Professor and Head of the Leonard Wagner Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Immunology at Rockefeller. Momenta is applying the sialylation technology to develop novel medicines for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
"This is the first U.S. patent to issue from a patent family related to sialylated Fc-containing products," stated Craig Wheeler, President and Chief Executive Officer of Momenta Pharmaceuticals. "Obtaining patent protection for sialylated Fc-containing products, whether recombinant or derived from IVIG, is an important strategic priority in our development of this exciting new technology, and we expect to expand the patent protection afforded by this licensed patented family." |
