HOOKIPA Announces Issuance of US and European Patents
August 03 2020 - 7:00AM
HOOKIPA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOK, ‘HOOKIPA’), a company developing
a new class of immunotherapeutics targeting infectious diseases and
cancers, today announced 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®).
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 Human Papillomavirus 16-positive
cancers, are both based on its replicating arenavirus platform.
About
HOOKIPAHOOKIPA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOK) is a clinical
stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of
immunotherapeutics targeting infectious diseases and cancers based
on its proprietary arenavirus platform that reprograms the body’s
immune system.
HOOKIPA’s proprietary arenavirus-based
technologies, non-replicating (VaxWave®) and replicating (TheraT®),
induce robust antigen-specific CD8+ T cells and
pathogen-neutralizing antibodies. HOOKIPA’s “off-the-shelf” viral
vectors target antigen presenting cells in vivo to activate the
immune system. Both technologies enable repeat administration to
augment and refresh immune responses. As a monotherapy, our
replicating arenavirus technology has the potential to induce CD8+
T cell response levels previously not achieved by other
immuno-therapy approaches.
HOOKIPA’s non-replicating prophylactic
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine candidate is currently in a Phase 2
clinical trial for patients awaiting kidney transplantation. To
expand its infectious disease portfolio, HOOKIPA entered into a
collaboration and licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. to
research arenavirus-based functional cures for HIV and chronic
Hepatitis B infections.
In addition, HOOKIPA is building a proprietary
immuno-oncology pipeline by targeting virally mediated cancer
antigens, self-antigens and next-generation antigens. The lead
replicating arenavirus oncology product candidates, HB-201 and
HB-202, are in development for the treatment of Human Papilloma
Virus 16-positive cancers. The Phase 1/2 clinical trial for HB-201
was initiated in December 2019. The HB-202 IND application was
cleared by the FDA in June 2020.
Find out more about HOOKIPA online at
www.hookipapharma.com.
HOOKIPA Forward Looking
Statements
Certain statements set forth in this press
release constitute “forward-looking” statements within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as
amended. Forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such
as “believes,” “expects,” “plans,” “potential,” “would” or similar
expressions and the negative of those terms. Such forward-looking
statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could
cause HOOKIPA’s research and clinical development programs, future
results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from
those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such
risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainties
inherent in the drug development process, including HOOKIPA’s
programs’ early stage of development, the process of designing and
conducting preclinical and clinical trials, the regulatory approval
processes, the timing of regulatory filings, the challenges
associated with manufacturing drug products, HOOKIPA’s ability to
successfully establish, protect and defend its intellectual
property, risks relating to business interruptions resulting from
the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease outbreak or similar public
health crises, the impact of COVID-19 on the enrollment of patients
and timing of clinical results for HB-101 and other programs, and
other matters that could affect the sufficiency of existing cash to
fund operations and HOOKIPA’s ability to achieve the milestones
under the agreement with Gilead. HOOKIPA undertakes no obligation
to update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further
description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking
statements, as well as risks relating to the business of the
company in general, see HOOKIPA’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q for
the quarter ended March 31, 2020 which is available on the Security
and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov and HOOKIPA’s
website at www.hookipapharma.com.
Investors and others should note that we
announce material financial information to our investors using our
investor relations website (https://ir.hookipapharma.com/), SEC
filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts. We
use these channels, as well as social media, to communicate with
our members and the public about our company, our services and
other issues. It is possible that the information we post on social
media could be deemed to be material information. Therefore, we
encourage investors, the media, and others interested in our
company to review the information we post on the U.S. social media
channels listed on our investor relations website.
For further information, please contact:
Media |
Investors |
Nina Waibel |
Matt Beck |
Senior Director - Communications |
Executive Director - Investor Relations |
nina.waibel@hookipapharma.com |
matthew.beck@hookipapharma.com |
|
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Media enquiries |
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Instinctif Partners |
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hookipa@instinctif.com |
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+44 (0)20 7457 2020 |
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