SYDNEY, Oct. 18, 2017
/PRNewswire/ -- Benitec Biopharma Limited (ASX:BLT; NASDAQ: BNTC;
NASDAQ: BNTCW) is pleased to announce that a new patent relating to
the Company's hepatitis B program has been issued in the United
States. Titled "HBV Treatment" and issued as U.S. Patent
Number 9,790,502, it encompasses Benitec's RNA interference (RNAi)
agent and the use of that RNAi agent to treat hepatitis B (HBV)
infection.
Benitec's CEO Greg West said,
"The grant of this US patent is considered to be an important
addition to Benitec's intellectual property portfolio and provides
protection for our advanced stage research activities towards new
treatments for HBV. It follows on from the earlier grants of
Benitec's U.S. Patent Numbers 9,080,174 and 9,410,154."
For further information regarding Benitec and its activities,
please contact the persons below, or visit the Benitec website at
www.benitec.com
Australia
Investor Relations
|
United States
Investor Relations
|
Market Eye
Orla
Keegan
Director
Tel: +61 (2) 8097
1201
Email:
orla.keegan@marketeye.com.au
|
M Group Strategic
Communications
Jay
Morakis
Managing
Director
Tel: +1
212.266.0191
Email:
jmorakis@MGroupSC.com
|
About Benitec Biopharma Limited:
Benitec Biopharma Limited (ASX: BLT; NASDAQ: BNTC; NASDAQ:
BNTCW) is a biotechnology company developing innovative
therapeutics based on its patented gene-silencing technology called
ddRNAi or 'expressed RNAi'. Based in Sydney, Australia with laboratories in
Hayward, California (USA), and
collaborators and licensees around the world, the company is
developing ddRNAi-based therapeutics for chronic and
life-threatening human conditions including OPMD, head & neck
squamous cell carcinoma, retinal based diseases such as wet
age-related macular degeneration, and hepatitis B. Benitec has also
licensed ddRNAi to other biopharmaceutical companies for
applications including HIV/AIDS, Huntington's Disease, chronic
neuropathic pain, cancer immunotherapy and retinitis
pigmentosa.
About Hepatitis B:
Worldwide, 2 billion people (1 out of 3 people) have been
infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and 400 million people have
become chronically infected, including 1 to 2 million people in
the United States. An estimated 1
million people die each year from hepatitis B and its complications
worldwide; about 5,000 of those are in the U.S. Worldwide, chronic
infection with hepatitis causes 80% of all hepatocellular carcinoma
(HCC) and more than 500,000 people die each year from this lethal
cancer. About 5% of the population are chronic carriers of HBV, and
nearly 25% of all carriers develop serious liver diseases such as
chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and HCC. Current treatment options
include long-term antiviral therapies that permit low-levels of
virus cells to replicate leading to HBV viral persistence and
affecting therapeutic outcomes. There is a significant need for
safe and convenient novel therapeutics that restore host immune
response through targeted HBsAg knockdown offering HBV patients the
potential for 'functional cures' by eliminating virus producing
cells. Benitec's pre-clinical results demonstrate that a one-time
treatment of BB- 103 added on top of a daily dosing regimen of a
nucleoside inhibitor, results in a far superior suppression of HBV
parameters, including a greater than 2 log knockdown of HBsAg, as
compared to that nucleoside inhibitor alone.
Safe Harbor Statement:
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of section 27A of the US Securities Act of 1933 and
section 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Any
forward-looking statements that may be in the press release are
subject to risks and uncertainties relating to the difficulties in
Benitec's plans to develop and commercialise its product
candidates, the timing of the initiation and completion of
preclinical and clinical trials, the timing of patient enrolment
and dosing in clinical trials, the timing of expected regulatory
filings, the clinical utility and potential attributes and benefits
of ddRNAi and Benitec's product candidates, potential future
out-licenses and collaborations, the intellectual property position
and the ability to procure additional sources of financing.
Accordingly, you should not rely on those forward-looking
statements as a prediction of actual future results.
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SOURCE Benitec Biopharma Limited