On February 15, 2018 Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American:AST), a biotechnology company dedicated to developing regenerative medicine therapeutics to treat neurological conditions associated with de-myelination and cellular immunotherapies to treat cancer, reported that it has strengthened its global IP portfolio over the past 12 months with the issuance of 46 new patents, including in the United States, Europe, Japan, Canada, China, Australia, Israel and South Korea (Press release, BioTime, FEB 15, 2018, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2332687 [SID1234523999]). Of the 46 patents, 38 are owned or jointly owned by Asterias and eight patents are exclusively licensed to the Company.
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Included in the issued patents are those covering differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to hematopoietic progenitors and differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to immature and mature dendritic cells, providing key patent protection to the Company’s allogeneic (non-patient specific) cancer immunotherapy AST-VAC2 program. Other issued patents cover various aspects of culture and expansion of undifferentiated stem cells, providing support for both AST-VAC2 and the Company’s AST-OPC1 product candidate which is currently being evaluated in the Company’s Phase 1/2a clinical program for severe spinal cord injury. Additional issued patents cover differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to various other lineages, including neural cells such as dopaminergic neurons, cardiomyocytes, and hepatocytes.
"We are excited about these new patents as they provide additional protection for certain aspects of the AST-VAC2 manufacturing process and support scalable processes of culturing pluripotent stem cells," said Michael Mulroy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Asterias. "In addition to being important for our own programs, these patents and our entire patent portfolio could enhance shareholder value by providing future licensing and partnering opportunities with third parties."