Sareum programme receives patents in Hong Kong and China

Specialist cancer drug discovery and development business Sareum announced on Wednesday that the Chinese Patent Office and the Hong Kong Patents Registry have issued notifications that patents will be granted for inventions associated with the company’s Aurora+FLT3 Kinase Inhibitor Programme.

The AIM-traded firm said these patents describe compounds that inhibit the activity of Aurora and FLT3 kinase enzymes, and the medical use of the compounds - particularly in the treatment of cancer.

It said the granting of the patents means that Sareum will have approved patent protection in China and Hong Kong for its Aurora+FLT3 inhibitor programme.

Sareum had earlier announced that similar patents were to be granted in the US and Europe in September 2015.

Its board said other major territories, including Japan, are expected to follow in due course.

“These notifications of patent grants for Sareum in China and Hong Kong demonstrate the strength of intellectual property protecting our Aurora+FLT3 programme, and reinforces the patent position for HMUBEC, our development partner in China,” said Sareum CSO Dr John Reader.

Sareum's Aurora+FLT3 inhibitor programme targets acute myeloid leukaemia and other leukaemias and lymphomas.

The company reported that the preclinical development candidate molecule demonstrates greater than 98% tumour inhibition in disease models of AML.

Preclinical development studies to obtain approval for human clinical trials are being undertaken in collaboration with, and funded by, Hebei Medical University Biomedical Engineering Center in China.