MARLBOROUGH, Mass.,
Sept. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- RXi
Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: RXII), a biotechnology company
focused on discovering, developing and commercializing innovative
therapies addressing major unmet medical needs using RNA-targeted
technologies, today announced that it has been granted a
patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on its
unique delivery system for delivering its "original" RNAi compounds
(rxRNAori®) to phagocytic cells for the treatment of
diseases with an inflammatory component. Potential diseases
include, but are not limited to, macular degeneration, rheumatoid
arthritis and Crohn's disease. The patent covers the use of
rxRNAori (RNAi compounds having a 25 to 30 base pair duplex) in a
complex containing a phagocytic cell-targeting moiety. U.S. Patent
Number 8,815,818, will expire in 2029. The granting of this
patent further broadens the breadth of RXi's RNAi delivery platform
allowing for the targeted delivery of RNAi therapeutics to specific
cells.
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In addition, RXi announced that it has been granted a patent by
the European Patent Office for a siRNA sequence targeting ICAM-1
for treatment of several diseases, such as allergic conjunctivitis,
angiogenesis, corneal/limbic injury, retinitis, and uveitis.
European Patent Number EP 2 251 434, will expire in 2024.
Furthermore, RXi received a notice of allowance from the Japanese
Patent Office for the delivery of double stranded siRNAs (21 to 23
nucleotides in length) across the blood-retina barrier. These two
patents, acquired from OPKO Health, Inc., add to RXi's growing list
of potential RNAi therapeutic and delivery modalities.
"These issued patents and notice of allowance greatly enhance
the value proposition of RXi Pharmaceuticals," said Dr.
Geert Cauwenbergh, President and CEO
of RXi Pharmaceuticals. He added that, "Not only do these patents
deepen our ability to broadly protect our proprietary and novel
technology platform, it also reinforces the potential for future
commercial and business development opportunities."
About RXi Pharmaceuticals Intellectual Property
Estate
RXi's intellectual property estate includes patents and patent
applications related to chemistries, sequences, configurations,
compounds, delivery technologies, and therapeutic targets. We
believe these patents and patent applications define broad coverage
for the development and commercialization of advanced RNAi
therapeutics. In particular, they relate to novel and
proprietary structural and chemical modifications patterns, used to
introduce "drug-like" properties to rxRNA® compounds.
Fundamental IP related to development of RXi's rxRNA compounds
covers distinct (from conventional siRNAs) structures with duplex
length shorter than 15 bases, or longer than 25 bases in the
context of advanced and diverse chemical modifications patterns. In
2013, RXi acquired the OPKO RNAi intellectual property
estate. The OPKO RNAi estate includes 12 patent families and
provides broad patent filings for siRNAs compounds which target
genes involved in angiogenesis, cancer, immune disorders and
inflammatory diseases. Methods for siRNA delivery across the
blood-brain and blood-retina barrier are also covered for
therapeutic and diagnostic use.
About RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation
RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: RXII) is a
biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and
commercializing innovative therapies based on its proprietary,
self-delivering RNAi (sd-rxRNA®) platform. Therapeutics that use
RNA interference, or "RNAi," have great promise because of
their ability to down-regulate the expression of specific genes
that may be over-expressed in disease conditions. Building on the
pioneering work of scientific founder and Nobel Laureate Dr.
Craig Mello, a member of the RXi
Scientific Advisory Board, RXi's first RNAi product candidate,
RXI‑109, a self-delivering RNAi compound (sd-rxRNA®), entered into
human clinical trials in June 2012
and is currently being evaluated in Phase 2 clinical trials to
reduce the formation of dermal scars (fibrosis). RXI-109 is
designed to reduce the expression of connective tissue growth
factor (CTGF), a critical regulator of biological pathways involved
in fibrosis, including scar formation in the skin. RXi's
sd‑rxRNA oligonucleotides are designed for therapeutic use and have
drug-like properties, such as high potency, target specificity,
serum stability, reduced immune response activation, and efficient
cellular uptake. These hybrid oligonucleotide molecules combine the
beneficial properties of conventional RNAi and antisense
technologies. This allows sd‑rxRNAs to achieve efficient
cellular uptake and potent, long-lasting intracellular activity.
For more information, please visit www.rxipharma.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements
about future expectations, planned and future development of RXi
Pharmaceuticals Corporation's products and technologies.
Forward-looking statements about expectations and development plans
of RXi's products involve significant risks and
uncertainties: the risk that we may not be able to
successfully develop our candidates, or that development of
RNAi-based therapeutics may be delayed or not proceed as planned,
or that we may not develop any RNAi-based products; risks that the
development process for our product candidates may be delayed,
risks related to the development and commercialization of products
by our competitors, the risk related to our ability to control the
timing and terms of collaborations with third parties, and the
possibility that other companies or organizations may assert patent
rights preventing us from developing our products. Actual results
may differ from those contemplated by these forward-looking
statements. RXi does not undertake to update forward-looking
statements to reflect a change in its views, events or
circumstances that occur after the date of this release.
Contact
RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Tamara McGrillen
508-929-3646
tmcgrillen@rxipharma.com
SOURCE RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation