February 23, 2011 -- The German biotechnology company MOLOGEN AG revealed in Berlin today that the European Patent Office has announced that it will be granting a European patent for the company’s allogenic tumor therapy. The patent protects the cell-based gene therapy against cancer MGN1601 that has been developed by MOLOGEN. The patent protection also covers the allogenic cancer cell line that has been established by MOLOGEN in accordance with the stipulations of pharmaceutical law and on which the treatment is based. The patent is being issued as soon as the fees have been paid as specified.
The drug candidate with the project name MGN1601 is currently being tested in a phase I/II clinical study for the treatment of advanced renal cancer.
Dr Matthias Schroff, Research Director and CEO, explains: “This patent is a major addition to our patent portfolio, since it protects our renal cancer drug MGN1601, which is one of the most promising drugs in our product pipeline. And it means that another large market – Europe – is being protected, following the USA and Russia, where corresponding patents for MGN1601 have already been granted to us.”
The principle by which the cell-based gene therapy works is to induce a cross reaction of the patients’ immune system to their own cancer cells, after the immune system has learned what cancer cells are typically like via the reaction to the genetically modified, foreign cancer cells. Up to now, the product has shown a very good tolerability profile within the clinical study that MOLOGEN is currently carrying out.
MOLOGEN AG, a leading research company in the fields of DNA medicine and cell-based medicine, is concentrating systematically on reaching its goal of developing highly effective and safe drugs for the treatment of cancer.
Specialists and patients who are interested in obtaining individual information are invited to contact the MOLOGEN AG study hotline: +49 800 1601 646.
For further information:
MOLOGEN AG
PRESS SERVICE Prof. Peter W. Hübner Head of Corporate Communications
Tel: +49 - 30 - 84 17 88 - 38 Fax: +49 - 30 - 84 17 88 - 50 huebner@mologen.com
INVESTOR RELATIONS: Jörg Petraß Tel: +49 - 30 - 84 17 88 - 13 Fax: +49 - 30 - 84 17 88 - 50 investor@mologen.com
External Investor Relations Kirchhoff Consult AG Janina Wismar M.A. Tel: +49 - 40 - 60 91 86 - 50 Fax: +49 - 40 - 60 91 86 - 16 janina.wismar@kirchhoff.de
