Amylin Pharmaceuticals' modified exendins and exendin agonists patent: USPTO issues Final Office Action

ConjuChem Biotechnologies Inc. (TSX:CJB) announced today that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Right of Appeal Notice (Final Office Action) in the inter partes reexamination of Patent No. 6,924,264. The patent, entitled "Modified Exendins and Exendin Agonists," was issued in August 2005 and is assigned to Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The Action once again rejected all the subject claims for obviousness and/or lack of novelty. The inter partes reexamination in the USPTO does not involve any of ConjuChem's patents.

"This outcome will provide further comfort to potential partners regarding any competing intellectual property claims in the exendin-albumin therapeutic field," said Mark Perrin, President & CEO of ConjuChem.

ConjuChem requested a reexamination of nineteen claims in the patent due to obviousness and/or lack of novelty. An Order Granting Reexamination was issued by the USPTO in October 2007 and the initial Office Action was issued in January 2008 in which all 19 reexamined claims were rejected. Amylin subsequently cancelled the existing claims and submitted fifteen new claims. In March 2009, all 15 claims were rejected due to obviousness and/or lack of novelty in an Action Closing Prosecution. The 15 claims were again rejected in the Final Office Action; Amylin has the right to appeal this Final USPTO Action. The counterpart to Patent No. 6,924,264 has been rejected in Europe.

ConjuChem has a number of issued patents in the insulinotropic peptide field including a composition of matter patent for PC-DAC(TM):Exendin-4 (Patent No. 6,593,295) which was issued by the USPTO in July 2003. The patent is also issued in an additional 37 countries.