WOBURN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aphios Corporation announced today that it has been granted United States Patent No. 10,954,248 entitled “Bryoid Compositions, Methods of Making and Use Thereof.” This patent is part of a family of Aphios patents in Europe (Patent No. 2,925,315, Jan. 16, 2019), Japan (Patent No. 6,440,628, Nov. 30, 2018), Hong Kong (Patent No. HK1,216,891, Nov. 22, 2019), and China (Patent No. ZL201380069328.2, Oct. 19, 2018).

Bryoids are a family of Bryostatins, such as Bryostatin-1, that are complex cyclic macrolide molecules. Bryoids were originally isolated from the marine bryozoan, Bugula neritina. Twenty-one Bryoid compositions, known as Bryostatins and are numbered 1-21, not including the present novel Bryostatin, have been identified. According to Dr. Trevor P. Castor, President and CEO, Aphios Corporation, and inventor of this patent: “This Bryoid, Bryostatin-22 is a highly potent nanomolar activator of α-secretase activity in neuroblastoma cell models, being more effective than Bryostatin-1 in increasing activity of all PKC isoforms, particularly the novel PKC isoforms, delta and epsilon.”

Aphios is developing Bryoids as therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, prostate cancer, glaucoma and HIV-1 latency. Bryoids increase the production of a neuronal enzyme, alpha-secretase (α-secretase), which cleaves the amyloid precursor protein into a soluble form inhibiting the formation of toxic, insoluble beta amyloid (Aβ) plaques that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease. In prostate cancer cells, Bryoids inhibit phorbol ester-induced apoptosis by differentially modulating protein kinase C delta (PKC-δ) translocation and preventing PKC-δ-mediated release of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα). In HIV-1 latency, Bryoids activate cellular transcription factors such as NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa of activated B-cells) that binds the HIV-1 promoter and regulates its transcriptional activity.

About Aphios Corporation: Aphios Corporation (www.aphios.com) is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing enabling technology platforms for improving drug discovery, manufacturing, delivery and safety, and enhanced therapeutics for the treatment of cancers and supportive care, infectious diseases such as HIV, and CNS disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

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