USPTO awards Immunitor key patent for viral vaccine

Immune Network Ltd. (Pink Sheets:IMMFF), advises that its potential acquisition, Immunitor USA Inc., has been issued a key patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The patent (US 7,838,006 "Viral vaccine composition, process and methods of use") contains claims covering the composition of matter for Immunitor's lead product, V5. The patent also covers the process of making and use of the matter for treating and preventing the broad range of infectious diseases.   Immunitor was previously awarded a U.S. patent covering another lead compound specifically designed for treatment of AIDS (US 7,384,637).

According to Vichai Jirathitikal, the principal inventor on these two patents, "The USPTO has validated the novelty and utility of Immunitor's technology and its use in the treatment and prophylaxis of a range of most diverse diseases and conditions." The co-inventor, Aldar Bourinbaiar, Immunitor's CEO, added: "With the issuance of these two patents, our lead programs are further protected, significantly enhancing their commercial value." 

Over the course of the company's development, Immunitor has achieved a broad and deep intellectual-property position in the orally delivered immunotherapeutics area. The company's patent portfolio now includes more than eight pending patents (including two international), with at least two dozen scientific publications in the peer-reviewed medical literature describing various aspects of the technology in infectious and autoimmune diseases, cancer, and metabolic diseases such as atherosclerosis and obesity. The combined annual market for these and related indications is close to $100 billion.

Immunitor is the industry leader in tableted oral vaccines and immunotherapies. During the past three years Immunitor completed two phase II clinical trials using V5 for treatment of chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C. This year Immunitor seized upon an unexpected clinical outcome, which revealed the intriguing potential of V5 in curing tuberculosis in almost 95% of patients within one month. The results of the first trial in patients with tuberculosis who were co-infected with hepatitis C virus and HIV were published in October issue of Journal of Vaccines and Vaccination (http://www.omicsonline.org/2157-7560/2157-7560-1-103.php). Patient enrollment for two additional phase 2b placebo-controlled trials involving 120 patients with difficult-to-treat forms of tuberculosis has been just completed in Ukraine and results are anticipated in early 2011. 

To date, all clinical trials of V5 have provided strong evidence of an excellent safety profile and provided insights into the unparalleled efficacy that will guide Immunitor in the design of follow-on hepatitis and tuberculosis studies, which are now being arranged in South Africa, Pakistan, India and China.

Immune Network is continuing its work toward meeting the pre-conditions for completion of a merger or similar transaction with Immunitor. Several aspects of the updated corporation and its anticipated transactions will be announced early in December 2010.