Progen Granted Anti-Angiogenesis Antibody Patent
October 28 2003 - 8:42PM
PR Newswire (US)
Progen Granted Anti-Angiogenesis Antibody Patent BRISBANE, Oct. 28
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Progen Industries Limited announced today
that it has recently broadened its intellectual property position
with the receipt of E.U. Patent No. 0669988. The patent entitled
"Angiogenesis Inhibitory Antibodies" broadly covers antibody
approaches to the inhibition of angiogenesis by directly inhibiting
endothelial cell growth. Angiogenesis is a critical step in cancer
and is the process by which new blood vessels are formed to
establish and grow tumors. Inhibiting angiogenesis can inhibit
tumor growth and prolong life for cancer patients. This has
recently been confirmed by Genentech's (NASDAQ:DNA) antibody,
Avastin(R) that has demonstrated a survival benefit in patients
with metastatic colorectal cancer and is the subject of their
recent Biologics License Application (BLA) filing with the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its eventual release to the
market. Progen's new patent grant broadens the company's
intellectual property coverage in one of the most heavily
researched areas - angiogenesis and specifically the area of
inhibiting endothelial cell growth. Endothelial cells form the
walls of blood vessels and their growth or proliferation, is a key
step in the process of providing blood supply to growing tumors.
Progen claim in their patent a novel antibody-related approach to
preventing endothelial cells forming these new blood vessels to
feed tumors thereby inhibiting angiogenesis. Robert Don PhD,
Progen's Vice President for Research and Development commented,
"Interest in therapeutic anti-angiogenic antibodies for the
development of drugs has grown and was recently validated, so our
patent covers a space in what is becoming an important area for
drug development. Our lead drug PI-88 emerged from our related
angiogenesis research program and Progen's drug discovery team
continues to work on expanding our drug portfolio. This most recent
patent grant completes coverage gained by patents issued in the
United States (US5677181 & US5874081) and Australia (AU673865).
It will complement our 6 patent families in the antiangiogenesis
field with 26 granted patents and 17 patent applications." Progen's
lead small-molecule drug candidate, PI-88 also targets
angiogenesis, in this case via the inhibition of several growth
factors necessary for blood vessel growth, such as VEGF, FGF-1 and
FGF-2, along with the enzyme heparanase. PI-88 is showing promise
in a Phase I solid tumor trial as a single-agent, where one third
of cancer patients treated to date have experienced stable disease
over periods up to 27 months. All patients in this study have
advanced or terminal stage disease where life expectancy is short
and where all other effective therapy options are either not
available or have failed. DATASOURCE: Progen Industries CONTACT:
Sarah Meibusch of Progen Industries Limited, +61-7-3273-9118, or
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