[January 28, 2013]

TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals Announces Decision to Grant Japanese Patent on Birinapant

TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals today announced that the Japan Patent Office (JPO) issued a Decision to Grant the company a patent that claims birinapant, a Smac mimetic currently in Phase 2 clinical studies for the treatment of various cancers. The allowed Japanese patent application, JP 2007-557249, has claims directed to the class of Smac mimetics that encompasses birinapant as a new chemical entity (NCE) and to drug products comprising birinapant and structurally related Smac mimetics.

A Decision to Grant is issued after the JPO makes a determination that a patent can be granted from an application. The issued patent would have a term that expires no earlier than in 2026.

This application is part of an expanding international patent portfolio for TetraLogic with Japan being the ninth country to acknowledge the patentability of the company's Smac mimetics. Others include the United States, People's Republic of China, Eurasian Patent Office (which incudes Russia), Australia, India, Mexico, Singapore and outh Africa. Additional counterpart patent applications are pending examination in Europe, Brazil, Canada, Israel, and Korea.

Additional patent applications that claim birinapant specifically, as well as methods of using birinapant, are also pending around the world. One of these that has claims directed specifically to birinapant was issued in the United States as US Patent Number 8,283,372.

About Birinapant

Birinapant (formerly TL32711) is a small molecule peptidomimetic of Smac (Second mitochondrial-derived activator of caspases) that selectively antagonizes the Inhibitor of Apoptosis (IAP) Proteins. Birinapant rapidly degrades IAPs and enables TNFa and TRAIL to activate the extrinsic apoptosis pathway, while it rapidly turns off the canonical NF-?B survival pathway, causing cancer cell death. Birinapant has entered Phase 2 clinical development for several solid tumors and a Phase 1/2 study in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is ongoing. In clinical studies to date, birinapant has been well tolerated and demonstrated effective suppression of IAPs and anti-cancer activity.

About TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals

TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals is a privately held biopharmaceutical company that is developing Smac mimetics, small molecule drugs that mimic Smac for the treatment of cancers. The company's institutional investors include Clarus Ventures, HealthCare Ventures, Quaker Partners, Novitas Capital, Nextech Invest Ltd, Hatteras Venture Partners, Pfizer Ventures, Latterell Venture Partners, the Vertical Group, Amgen Ventures, and Kammerer Associates. For additional information, please refer to the company's Web site at www.tetralogicpharma.com.

[ Back To Technology News's Homepage ]