ARCA biopharma extends pharmacogenetic intellectual property protection around bucindolol

ARCA biopharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABIO), a biopharmaceutical company developing genetically targeted therapies for cardiovascular diseases, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a patent on methods for treating patients with bucindolol based on genetic targeting and focused on a specific genotype - homozygous wildtype for Deletion 322-325 in the alpha-2C adrenergic receptor. The patent (USP# 8,080,578) entitled "Methods for Treatment with Bucindolol Based on Genetic Targeting," provides protection in the United States for this novel approach to treating patients with bucindolol.

“We are obviously pleased with the USPTO's issuance of this patent, which we believe extends our pharmacogenetic intellectual property protection around bucindolol”

"We are obviously pleased with the USPTO's issuance of this patent, which we believe extends our pharmacogenetic intellectual property protection around bucindolol," said Michael R. Bristow, President and Chief Executive Officer of ARCA. "Chronic cardiovascular diseases continue to be a major health care problem, and among the challenges to improving care is the uncertainty of patient responses to drug treatment. We believe new therapies that include a simple test to identify a substantial subpopulation of patients more likely to benefit have the potential to alleviate some of the problems encountered with the current standard of pharmacotherapy, where all members of a disease cohort, including those who will not respond, are treated. A unique pharmacologic property of bucindolol is norepinephrine lowering, and bucindolol's heart failure clinical responses demonstrated in a large Phase 3 clinical trial (BEST) were modulated by this important effect. The degree of norepinephrine lowering by bucindolol is under genetic control by alpha-2C 322-325 Insertion/Deletion adrenergic receptor polymorphisms (Circulation: Heart Failure 3:21-28 2010). Accordingly, we believe prospective knowledge of the alpha-2C 322-325 genotype allows for prediction of the degree of norepinephrine lowering by bucindolol in an individual patient."