KAEL-GemVax wins European telomerase patent challenge

KAEL-GemVax, a leading oncology biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the recent ruling by the European Patent Office dismissing appeals relating to Geron Corporation's European telomerase patent confirms KAEL-GemVax's patent position on lead product GV-1001, an anti-telomerase vaccine, currently completing the TeloVac Phase III trial for pancreatic cancer.

The appeal case number was T 1456/06 and concerned Geron's European patent no: 841396, and in particular the case concerned the outcome of an earlier filed opposition against the patent. After careful consideration the Technical Board of Appeal decided that Geron's patent does not sufficiently disclose peptide vaccines derived from human telomerase protein. The Board therefore affirmed the first-instance decision that the originally granted patent claims relating to such peptide vaccines are revoked.

According to KAEL-GemVax's VP Michelle Kim, this decision reaffirms the company's exclusive right to anti-cancer immunotherapy using GV-1001 and certain other peptides: "As we come to the conclusion of our pivotal Phase III TeloVac trial for pancreatic cancer, another clear decision by the European Patent Office, the interpretation of which must be that we are free to develop and potentially bring GV-1001 to market."