11th May 2006 07:02
Allergy Therapeutics PLC11 May 2006 Allergy Therapeutics plc (or 'the company') Announces approval of fundamental Vaccine technology Patent Allergy Therapeutics plc, the specialist pharmaceutical company focused onallergy vaccination, today announces that it has been granted a broadtechnology patent for the combination of MPL(R) with tyrosine and an antigen bythe European Patent Office, covering 24 countries in Europe. The patent is important because it covers vaccine therapy for any bacterial orviral disease and uses an antigen derived from the target organism. Thereforethe advanced MPL + tyrosine adjuvant combination, which the company already uses in its therapeutic allergy vaccines, may be employed in the anti-infectivefield, as a prophylactic or preventative vaccine. This patent also covers theuse of this advanced adjuvant system in cancer immunotherapy in addition tobacterial and viral immunotherapy. Infectious disease remains the leading causeof death worldwide and vaccines are recognised as a cost effective solutionwhich will become increasingly important in a market worth in excess of $50billion. MPL is classified as a TLR4 agonist that acts as a Th1-inducing adjuvant; theadjuvant qualities are enhanced in the presence of tyrosine. This novelcombination induces a shift in the immune response (incorporating the productionof cytotoxic T cells) which provides a greater efficacy when the diseaseorganism is intracellular, for example with viruses and some bacterial species. Although Allergy Therapeutics is focused primarily on the development on allergyvaccine products, at the same time its IP platform has potentially excitingapplications in the anti-infective arena. The anti-infective vaccine market is very large, estimated at $5-11 billion in 2006 and growing. Therefore, theownership of IP assets such as this is potentially of significant value to thecompany. Keith Carter, Allergy Therapeutics' Chief Executive Officer, said: "Strong intellectual property is critical to the success of our company. Itensures that we are able to turn great science and medicine into commerciallyviable products for ourselves, our partners and most importantly, the patients.We are currently focused on delivering our strategy of bringing the nextgeneration of allergy vaccines to market, but are also keen to explore the valueof our IP portfolio outside the allergy field. However, it should be stressedthat we would only seek to develop products in this field with a joint venturepartner. This patent is the latest addition to our portfolio which provides worldwideprojection to 2022 and beyond." -ends- For further information: Allergy Therapeutics plcKeith Carter, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0)1903 845 820 Bell PottingerDan de Belder +44 (0)20 7861 3232 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Allergy Thera.