BioLineRx (NASDAQ: BLRX) (TASE: BLRX), a biopharmaceutical development
company, announced today that a Notice of Allowance has been received
from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) claiming the
crystalline form of BL-1020, a first-in-class orally available treatment
for schizophrenia. The patent, when granted, will be valid at least
until 2031, without taking into account any possible extension periods,
which is nine years longer than the granted patent coverage previously
reported by the Company. Corresponding patent applications are pending
in Europe, Japan, India, China, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Australia and
Israel.
"We are extremely pleased with the allowance of the patent covering
BL-1020's crystalline form by the USPTO. There is now a significantly
longer period of exclusivity to our lead product, which reflects
substantial additional progress in its development towards
commercialization. This approval, together with recent additional patent
approvals regarding BL-1020 and other drug candidates, is a testament to
our focused and highly professional patent application strategy,"
said Dr. Kinneret Savitsky, CEO of BioLineRx. "We believe that the
market potential for BL-1020 has increased over the past several months,
as some larger pharmaceutical companies have reported failures during
late-stage clinical trials, or have reduced the operations surrounding
their schizophrenia therapies due to loss of patent protection."