- Arovella Therapeutics (ALA) is set to receive a European patent for its iNKT cell therapy platform, under licence to the company from Imperial College Innovations
- ALA says the European Patent Office has issued it a notification of intent to grant the patent, which will cover the manufacturing of CAR-iNKT cells for cancer treatment
- Corresponding patent applications are pending in the US, Canada, China, Hong Kong and Australia
- Arovella has partnered with fellow ASX-listed Imugene (IMU) to combine its ALA-101 iNKT treatment with IMU’s onCARlytics platform to potentially tackle solid tumours
- Shares in Arovella are trading grey at 2.6 cents at 12:40 pm AEDT, and shares in Imugene are down 1.25 per cent to 20 cents
Arovella Therapeutics (ALA) is set to receive a European patent for its iNKT cell therapy platform, under licence to the company from Imperial College Innovations.
The company said the European Patent Office had issued a notification of intent to grant the patent, which would cover the manufacturing of CAR-iNKT cells for cancer treatment.
Arovella expects to receive the patent in early 2023 following the completion of grant formalities.
Once granted, the patent will have a maximum term that will expire on February 28, 2039.
The company acquired the platform technology under licence from Imperial College London in June 2021 and has partnered with fellow ASX-listed Imugene to combine its ALA-101 iNKT treatment with IMU’s onCARlytics platform to potentially tackle solid tumours.
According to Arovella, corresponding patent applications are pending in the US, Canada, China, Hong Kong and Australia.
CEO and Managing Director Michael Baker said Arovella was continuing to develop the therapy to demonstrate the value of the platform and leave a positive impact on many cancer patients.
Completed pre-clinical studies demonstrated that CAR19-iNKT cells were a therapeutic option for eliminating haematological malignancies — or blood cancers — that produced the CD19 molecule, with further enhanced activity against cancers that also produce CD1d.
Further, the cells can be used off the shelf and collected from a healthy donor, re-engineered to target cancer cells and given to patients when required.
Shares in Arovella were trading grey at 2.6 cents at 12:40 pm AEDT, and shares in Imugene were down 1.25 per cent to 20 cents.