On August 3, 2020 HOOKIPA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOK, ‘HOOKIPA’), a company developing a new class of immunotherapeutics targeting infectious diseases and cancers, reported that both the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) have issued patents covering HOOKIPA’s proprietary replicating arenavirus technology (TheraT) (Press release, Hookipa Pharma, AUG 3, 2020, View Source [SID1234562683]).
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The patents (US Patent No. 10,722,564 and European Patent No. 3218504) are granted to the University of Geneva. HOOKIPA has exclusively licensed these patents from the University. The patent claims cover current product candidates based on HOOKIPA’s replicating arenavirus platform technology (TheraT), including the Company’s lead oncology product candidates HB-201 and HB-202. These programs are currently in clinical development for the treatment of Human Papillomavirus 16-positive (HPV16+) cancers.
In addition to the replicating arenavirus platform patents, the USPTO recently granted a patent (US Patent No. 10,669,315) specifically related to HOOKIPA’s HB-201 and HB-202 product candidates, which are two different replicating arenavirus-based vectors encoding the same E7/E6 fusion protein. The patent protection for HB-201 and HB-202 conferred by these platform and product-specific patents extends to 2037 in the United States and 2035 in Europe (not taking into account potential Patent Term Extension or Supplementary Protection Certificates).
"The newly issued patents provide general, long-term patent protection for our arenavirus technology and related oncology programs. The combination of broad patents on our arenavirus platform and specific patents on product candidates underpin the commercial potential of the therapies we are developing," said Joern Aldag, HOOKIPA’s Chief Executive Officer.
About Replicating Arenavirus Technology (TheraT)
HOOKIPA’s proprietary and patented replicating arenavirus technology induces powerful immune responses. HOOKIPA’s replicating arenavirus constructs are engineered to be specific for antigens of choice. Arenaviruses have a natural ability to evade neutralization, enabling repeated intravenous delivery.
The replicating arenavirus platform is able to direct more than 50% of a mouse’s T cells to focus on a single target of choice. In various animal models, immunization with HOOKIPA’s replicating arenavirus resulted in elimination of a primary tumor and metastasis and provided long-term protection against a cancer re-challenge months after primary treatment. The Company believes that its arenavirus-based treatments are more potent immunotherapies than alternative therapeutic modalities.
HOOKIPA’s lead oncology programs, HB-201 and HB-202 for the treatment of Hum Papillomavirus 16-positive cancers, are both based on its replicating arenavirus platform.