On August 13, 2024 Genprex inc. ("Genprex" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: GNPX), a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on developing life-changing therapies for patients with cancer and diabetes, reported that the Singapore Patent Office has granted a patent to Genprex that covers the use of the Company’s lead drug candidate, Reqorsa Gene Therapy, in combination with anti-PD-1 antibodies through 2037 (Press release, Genprex, AUG 13, 2024, View Source [SID1234645806]).
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This patent expands on the previously granted patents in the U.S., Japan, Mexico, Russia, Australia, Chile, China and Korea to cover the use of REQORSA in combination with an immune checkpoint inhibitor, i.e., PD-1 antibodies. The granted Korean patent also claims the use of REQORSA in combination with PD-L1 antibodies. Genprex will be pursuing additional patent applications with claims to combinations of REQORSA and PD-L1 antibodies in the US, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe and Israel. Should these applications grant, they would be applicable to Genprex’s Acclaim-3 clinical trial.
PD-1 inhibitors and PD-L1 inhibitors are a type of targeted immunotherapy and a part of a group of checkpoint inhibitor anti-cancer drugs that block the activity of PD-1 and PDL1 immune checkpoint proteins present on the surface of cells.
"This patent expands our intellectual property portfolio, providing us with additional protection and exclusivity for our drug combinations with REQORSA and furthering our patent protection in the Asian markets where lung cancer is the most prevalent," said Thomas Gallagher, Esq., Senior Vice President of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Genprex.
According to GLOBOCAN, in 2022 Asia accounted for 63% of new lung cancer cases worldwide, which is equal to more than 1.5 million new cases of lung cancer per year. In 2022, China alone had more than 1 million new cases of lung cancer.
The Acclaim-3 study is a Phase 1/2 clinical trial that uses a combination of REQORSA and Genentech’s Tecentriq as maintenance therapy for patients with extensive stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) who developed tumor progression after receiving Tecentriq and chemotherapy as initial standard treatment. The Acclaim-3 clinical trial has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Fast Track Designation for this patient population, and Acclaim-3 has received FDA Orphan Drug Designation.