VALBONNE, FRANCE -- TxCell SA, a biotech developing innovative,
personalized cell-based immunotherapies using antigen-specific
regulatory T-cells (Ag-Tregs) for chronic inflammatory and autoimmune
diseases, today announces that five new patents for their technologies
have been issued in the Unites States, Asia and Australia since the
beginning of 2014. These five new patents cover an important part of
TxCell’s core technology and ASTrIA platform. These patents strengthen
TxCell’s intellectual property positioning and competitive advantage.
The
most recent patent, US 881553, has been granted in the USA on August 26
2014. This patent is for the TxCell method of assessing the efficacy of
an antigen-specific Type 1 Treg cell therapy in a patient. The patent
is a key asset for the company as it forms an important part of TxCell’s
innovative business model. The ability to use this method to determine
responder from non-responder patients after the first administration of
TxCell’s cellular immunotherapies would further increase the value of
TxCell technologies and as a result, provide a powerful tool in future
discussions with payers. TxCell will use this method during the
forthcoming phase IIb clinical study with the company’s lead product
Ovasave(R) in severe refractory Crohn’s disease patients.
The
patent JP 5502322 granted in Japan describes a method for the isolation
of a food- or auto-antigen specific Type 1 Treg cell population. This
Japanese patent is, as well, of strategic importance for TxCell as it
protects the first step of the TxCell proprietary manufacturing process
for making unique personalized cellular immunotherapies.
The
further patents granted are respectively for use of antigen specific
Type 1 Treg cell populations for treating multiple sclerosis, granted in
China, and for the use of pharmaceutical compositions comprising Type 1
Treg cells and mesenchymal stem cells in combination, granted in Japan
and Australia.
"TxCell has dedicated years of effort in research
and development to establish a robust intellectual property portfolio.
This patent coverage will be critical for our ongoing efforts to make
cellular immunotherapies available to the large number of patients with a
variety of conditions with unmet medical need that are waiting for
innovative therapeutic options," said Damian Marron, Chief Executive
Officer of TxCell. “We believe these valuable new patents are an
essential addition to our patent collection. TxCell now owns or controls
a total of more than 140 granted patents in the field of
antigen-specific Treg cell-based therapy, with dozens of additional
patents pending. These will provide the company with very strong
protection for its ASTrIA platform and portfolio of cellular
immunotherapy treatments. We will continue to actively patent new
discoveries to further protect and extend our innovative technology and
products.”
About TxCell
TxCell is developing innovative
personalized cell-based immunotherapies for the treatment of severe
chronic inflammatory diseases with high medical need using its unique
and proprietary ASTrIA technology platform based on the properties of
autologous antigen-specific regulatory T lymphocytes (Ag-Tregs). The
company has completed a phase I/IIa study of its lead product candidate,
Ovasave® in refractory Crohn’s disease patients and has reported good
tolerability and positive clinical efficacy. The company plans to
initiate a phase IIb study in the same patient population. TxCell has a
strategic partnership for Ovasave® with the Swiss company Ferring
International Center. Listed on Euronext-Paris, TxCell, a spin-off of
Inserm (France’s National Institute for Health and Medical Research) is
located in the Sophia Antipolis technology park, Nice, France. The
company has 43 employees based at its headquarters and at its
manufacturing site in Besançon. For more information, please visit
www.txcell.com.
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