Advaxis' 'Prokaryotic peptides for enhancing antigen immunogenicity' European patent application allowed

Advaxis, Inc., (OTCBB: ADXS), the live, attenuated Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) immunotherapy company, has been notified by the European Patent Office that patent application WO2001/072329, for the use of Prokaryotic PEST-Like Peptides for Enhancing Immunogenicity of Antigen has been allowed for issuance. This patent will be #1,303,299 when granted, and will be licensed exclusively to Advaxis by the University of Pennsylvania. It extends protection for Advaxis' use of proprietary antigen-adjuvant fusion proteins beyond Listeria to viral and DNA vaccine vectors as well. This will provide patent protection to 2025.

The Listeria protein listeriolysin O (LLO) is the highly immunogenic primary virulence factor for Lm. Advaxis uses this natural immunity to LLO and similar proteins (PEST containing proteins) to enhance the response to tumor and infectious disease antigens by fusing a bioengineered form of LLO (or similar protein) that has been designed for this purpose to any selected antigen, thus creating an antigen-adjuvant molecule with greater immuno-reactivity than the antigen alone.

Although Advaxis typically delivers these fusion proteins by engineering live Listeria to make and secrete them from within a patient's cells, the technology has found use in other research laboratories and has been inserted into a number of non-Listeria vaccine vectors. This patent provides Advaxis with proprietary intellectual property protection for the use of LLO and other PEST containing proteins when used in viral and DNA vaccine vectors.