Clinical-stage cell therapy company, Chimeric Therapeutics has snapped up a US patent for its cancer fighting CLTX CAR therapies. According to Chimeric the United States represents the single largest global market for biopharmaceutical products and the patent will add further protection to its burgeoning roster of intellectual property. The move follows a recent patent grant for the technology in Europe.
Chlorotoxin CAR T or “CLTX CAR T” cell therapy is a leading-edge cancer treatment aimed at combatting glioblastoma - an aggressive type of cancer that can occur in the brain or spinal cord.
Glioblastoma commonly affects the elderly and is known to trigger headaches, nausea, vomiting and seizures. According to Chimeric, its treatments could address the currently unmet medical requirements of a significant pool of patients.
The company’s CAR T cell therapy works by drawing blood from a patient and reprogramming it to sniff out and eradicate cancerous cells after being re-infused back into the patient’s bloodstream. The technology is part of a wider segment of the biotechnology space that embraces “immunotherapy”, a practice that repurposes a patient’s own cells to fight back against cancerous inflicted cells.
Chimeric Therapeutics CEO and Managing Director Jennifer Chow said:“We are delighted to have patent protection granted for CLTX CAR therapies in the United States, the single largest global market for biopharmaceutical products. The granting of this key US patent continues the momentum for the intellectual property portfolio underpinning our CLTX CAR pipeline assets, following the recent patent grant in Europe in September.”
Chimeric recently ticked off a new milestone in its glioblastoma treatment after successfully concluding a second dose cohort program in a phase 1 dose escalation study at a renowned cancer centre near Los Angeles. According to the Victoria-based company all patients dosed in the trial advanced past the 28-day follow-up period without experiencing any side effects.
Chimeric says patients in the second dose cohort were re-infused with double the CLTX CAR T cells compared to those in the first dose group, representing a significant milestone given the trial utilised both intraventricular and intertumoral administration.
Remarkably, Chimeric is the only clinical stage, cell therapy biotechnology company in Australia that focusses on discovery, development and commercialisation of therapies that actually cure cancer and not just delay the diseases progression.
The company is seeking to advance a brace of cell therapy assets through clinical trials – CHM1101 is aimed at glioblastoma and CHM 2101 will look to target gastric and colorectal cancers.
Chimeric is planning on completing over half a dozen clinical trials by next year and with another patent under its belt and a significant market to go after the company could be set for plenty of positive news flow even if just one delivers.
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