SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alvine Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of autoimmune and gastrointestinal diseases, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued four key patents: 7,943,312; 7,928,056; 7,923,532; and 7,910,541, protecting various aspects of Alvine’s core technology. These patents cover gluten degradation with gluten-specific proteases, methods for identifying proteases useful in degrading gluten and reagents for diagnosing celiac disease. Alvine has an exclusive worldwide license to these patents from Stanford University.