Poolbeg Pharma to be granted US patent

This AIM-traded firm said the development pertained to POLB 001, a potent phase II-ready p38 MAP kinase inhibitor with promising applications across various disease domains.

It said the approved claims by the US Patent Office encompassed a class of drugs, including POLB 001, intended for the treatment of hypercytokinemia, or cytokine storm, and prevention of hypercytokinemia post-immune response activation, applicable to cytokine storms induced by any disease indication.

Poolbeg said it was actively bolstering its intellectual property portfolio with existing patents covering p38 MAP kinase inhibitors for severe influenza treatment and POLB 001 specifically for hypercytokinemia treatment.

Additionally, the company said it had filed further patent applications to broaden coverage, particularly in cancer immunotherapies, thus augmenting the value and appeal of POLB 001 to potential pharmaceutical partners.

“This notice of allowance is significant for Poolbeg, further strengthening our robust intellectual property for the company's exciting POLB 001 therapy and enhancing its value for potential partners,” said chief executive officer Jeremy Skillington.

“POLB 001 has the potential to make breakthrough cancer immunotherapies more accessible to the patients that need them by enabling safer and broader use of these cancer treatments in an outpatient setting.

“I am excited by the potential of POLB 001 to positively impact global health, it has a compelling data package and there is strong unmet need for an effective therapy for cancer immunotherapy-induced cytokine release syndrome with the market potential in this setting alone exceeding $10bn.”

At 1044 GMT, Poolbeg Pharma shares were down 1.03% at 9.6p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.