10th Aug 2026 11:10
(Alliance News) - ValiRx PLC on Monday announced that the European Patent Office intends to grant a patent for "a key part" of majority-owned subsidiary Cytolytix Ltd's intellectual property portfolio.
The London-based life sciences company said Cytolytix's patent application, titled 'Polyleucine-Based Peptides As Anti-Cancer Agents', has received formal notification of the European Patent Office's intention to grant the patent.
"This patent, licensed from King's College London, forms a key part of the Cytolytix intellectual property portfolio," ValiRx noted.
It said the application includes data demonstrating induction of immunogenic cell death in triple negative breast cancer cells, "a key component of the mechanism of action that could provide enhanced and more durable responses when translated to the clinical setting."
ValiRx previously in May announced the grant of Cytolytix's 'Nanoparticle for Anti-Cancer Peptides and Uses Thereof' original peptide formulation patent. Together, it said, the patents further strengthen its ability to attract external investment, and increase its offerings for licensing and ongoing partnership discussions.
The company said it also in May filed for patent protection covering new inventions relating to its second-generation delivery platform based on novel lipid formulations of the oncolytic peptide.
"The notification of intention to grant a second core patent is a significant milestone for Cytolytix, confirming the novelty of the platform and providing a solid base to build on with further IP developed in house," Chief Executive Officer Mark Eccleston commented. "Having a range of proprietary formulations allows us to explore differentiated products for various routes of administration and across multiple clinical applications in the human and veterinary markets...The demonstration of release of immune-activating signals is a very encouraging step towards demonstrating the anticipated immune boost feature of this class of therapeutics which is being explored using advanced NAMs approaches in house and through our partners.
"It is also a key driver for our comparative oncology approach in pet patients with spontaneous tumours and in real patients with intact immune systems."
ValiRx shares were down 5.0% at 0.15 pence late on Monday morning in London. However, they were earlier 5.0% higher, and opened up 6.3%.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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