Santaris Pharma wins two LNA patent re-examination cases in the U.S.

Santaris Pharma A/S, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies, today announced that it has won two significant patent re-examination cases brought by Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ISIS). The positive rulings by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) cover two key Santaris Pharma A/S "Imanishi" patents, U.S. Pat. No. 6,268,490 (the "'490 patent") and U.S. Pat. No. 6,770,748, (the "'748 patent"), which claim rights to the Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) or Bicyclic Nucleic Acid (BNA) chemical structure used for developing antisense molecules.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) revoked the ex parte re-examination of the '490 patent and provided a Notice of Intent to Issue a Reexamination Certificate that confirms the patentability of all claims of the '490 patent owned by Santaris Pharma A/S and is not subject to appeal. In addition, the USPTO issued an Action Closing Prosecution in the inter-partes re-examination of '748 patent, which is a continuation-in-part of the ‟490 patent, confirming all of the original claims.

"As the leader in developing LNA-based drugs, Santaris Pharma A/S is very pleased that the USPTO has ruled in favor of Santaris Pharma A/S and upheld the company's 'Imanishi' patents," said Soeren Tulstrup, President and CEO of Santaris Pharma A/S. "The USPTO rulings affirm the strong intellectual property position of Santaris Pharma A/S as it continues to develop effective RNA-targeted therapies with high affinity, target specificity and remarkable potency for a range of diseases both internally and with its partners."

Santaris Pharma A/S LNA Drug Platform combines the company's proprietary LNA chemistry with its highly specialized and targeted drug development capabilities to rapidly deliver potent single-stranded LNA-based drug candidates across a multitude of disease states including infectious and inflammatory diseases, cardiometabolic disorders, cancer, and rare genetic disorders. The unique combination of pharmaceutical properties, small size and very high affinity of LNA-based drugs allows this new class of antisense drugs to potently and specifically inhibit RNA-targets in many different tissues without the need for complex delivery vehicles.

"The positive USPTO rulings are very important as the Imanishi patents are one of the cornerstones of Santaris Pharma A/S significant patent estate, which broadly covers the 2'-4' bicyclic nucleotide universe," said Henrik Oerum, PhD, Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Santaris Pharma A/S. "Santaris Pharma A/S has dedicated its scientific know-how and expertise to advance LNA-based chemistries into a versatile LNA Drug Platform for the development of new RNA-targeted drugs for human diseases."