Imugene Ltd (ASX:IMU, OTC:IUGNF) has gained access to the largest pharmaceutical market in Asia with the grant of a patent for its Oncolytic Virotherapy CF33 from the Chinese Patent Office, following earlier grants in Japan and South Korea.
The patent titled 'Chimeric Poxvirus Composition and Uses Thereof' (inventors Yuman Fong and Nanhai Chen from the City of Hope) protects the method of composition and method of use of Imugene’s licensed oncolytic virotherapy to 2037, including VAXINIA (CF33-hNIS) and CHECKvacc (CF33-hNIS-antiPDL1).
Major patent milestone
“Imugene receiving these patent grants for the CF33 family of oncolytic viruses is a crucial step forward and with China, Japan and South Korea being the largest healthcare markets in Asia, this is a particularly important patent milestone,” Imugene managing director and CEO Leslie Chong said.
CF33 was developed in the lab of inventor Professor Yuman Fong, chair of Sangiacomo Family Chair in Surgical Oncology at City of Hope, an expert in the oncolytic virus field.
It is a chimeric vaccina poxvirus designed to both selectively kill tumour cells and activate the immune system against cancer cells.
Read: Imugene advances to combination dosing with Phase 1 onCARlytics solid tumour trial