Poolbeg Pharma upbeat on US patent application progress

Infectious disease pharmaceutical company Poolbeg Pharma updated the market on its intellectual property (IP) position around ‘POLB 001’ on Tuesday, which it described as a small molecule immunomodulator for the treatment of severe influenza.

The AIM-traded firm said the US Patent and Trademarks Office, after reviewing a patent application that was directed to the use of POLB 001 and its homologues for the treatment of hypercytokinemia, or ‘cytokine storm’, indicated that the main claim was allowable.

Poolbeg said it expected to receive a formal patent grant in due course, and had filed a continuing application to seek protection for additional claims around the indication.

The company has a worldwide licence for POLB 001 for all uses in humans, and was developing a “strong” IP portfolio with patent protections in place covering the use of the class of p38 MAP kinase inhibitors for the treatment or prevention of severe influenza and hypercytokinemia.

It said it was exploring the opportunity to expand its IP around the asset, to cover new disease areas which could enhance the value of the asset for partnering purposes.

US and European patents had already been granted, with claims to the treatment of severe influenza, which was characterised by symptoms that persisted or recurred for more than two days without signs of resolution, with a p38 MAP kinase inhibitor inhibiting the release of pro-inflammatory mediators from endothelial cells and pro-inflammatory cytokines from immune cells.

The granted patents offer protection until at least 2037, while the assessment of applications filed in other territories is ongoing.

“We are continuing to expand our global patent protection for our growing pipeline of infectious disease products,” said chief executive officer Jeremy Skillington.

“We are delighted to receive confirmation from the US Patent and Trademarks office that the main claim is allowable, and we look forward to updating the market when we receive the formal patent grant in due course.”

Skillington said enhanced IP protection across key markets, such as the US, would increase the overall value of the products to potential partners.

“This is particularly important as we move closer to the completion of our POLB 001 LPS human challenge trial, with initial results expected by year end 2022.”

At 1347 BST, shares in Poolbeg Pharma were up 7.19% at 4.77p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.