Ascelia Pharma AB (publ) (ticker: ACE) today announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a notice of allowance for a second Oncoral patent application covering the method of use of Oncoral.
Oncoral is Ascelia Pharma’s investigational oral daily chemotherapy with potential to offer both better efficacy and safety compared to intravenous high-dose chemotherapy infusions at the hospital. The new patent (application number 16/120,451) covers the method of use in the treatment of various relevant cancers and broadens the scope of protection for the tablet composition of Oncoral as a solid oral dosage form. The new patent further strengthens the intellectual property protection for Oncoral and provides protection until 2035 in the US.
“We are very pleased that the US patent office recognizes the innovation of our novel oral formulation of irinotecan. The opportunity to strengthen the patent protection for Oncoral adds further value to the development and commercialization opportunities for Oncoral and for Ascelia Pharma”, said Julie Waras Brogren, Chief Commercial Officer of Ascelia Pharma.
The new patent extends the scope of Ascelia Pharma’s patent protection for Oncoral beyond the already-granted US patent US 10,143,657 which covers the solid oral composition of Oncoral. Outside the US, Oncoral is covered by patents in selected European countries and in Japan and China.