Arovella Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:ALA) welcomes the European Patent Office issuing a notification of intention to grant a patent for the iNKT cell therapy platform ALA has licensed from Imperial College Innovations Limited.
The company is focused on developing its invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cell platform to treat cancer.
Grant to follow
This patent application, covering the manufacturing of CAR-iNKT cells, is expected to proceed to grant in early 2023 following the completion of formalities and to have a maximum term that will expire on February 28, 2039, once granted.
The European application is titled 'Transduction and expansion of cells'. Corresponding applications are pending in the United States, Canada, China, Hong Kong and Australia.
“Receiving the notice that this European patent application will proceed to grant is an excellent milestone for the technology, and we are excited to continue developing the therapy to demonstrate the value of our platform and to have a positive impact on the lives of many cancer patients,” Arovella CEO and MD Dr Michael Baker said.
iNKT cell therapy platform
Arovella acquired the iNKT cell therapy platform technology under licence from Imperial College London in June 2021.
The completed pre-clinical studies demonstrate that CAR19-iNKT cells are a robust therapeutic option for eliminating haematological malignancies that produce CD19, with further enhanced activity against cancers that also produce CD1d.
Partnership with Imugene
Arovella has partnered with Imugene Ltd (ASX:IMU, OTC:IUGNF) to combine ALA-101 with Imugene's onCARlytics platform, which opens up the possibility of using ALA-101 to tackle solid tumours.
Arovella’s ALA-101 has been shown in pre-clinical studies to outperform conventional T cells against cancers that express CD19 and CD1d.
A key feature of iNKT cells is that they can be used off the shelf and collected from a healthy donor, re-engineered to target cancer cells and given to patients when required.
The iNKT cell therapy platform technology that is the subject of this patent family can also target different cancers by employing, for example, Arovella’s DKK-1-peptide targeting technology, which is under licence from MD Anderson Cancer Center.
About Arovella Therapeutics
Arovella Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:ALA) is focused on developing therapies to treat human diseases. It is developing its invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell therapy platform under licence from Imperial College London to treat blood cancers and solid tumours.
Arovella is also expanding its DKK1-peptide targeting technology licensed from MD Anderson, which is used in conjunction with its iNKT cell therapy platform.
ALA is also commercialising ZolpiMist™, a first-in-class oral spray of zolpidem tartrate to treat short-term insomnia.
ZolpiMist is approved by the FDA and the TGA and is marketed in the USA, and Arovella has rights to the product outside of the US and Canada.