Cortech Gets Bradycor Patent Allowance

Cortech Inc of Denver, USA, has received a Notice of Allowance from the US Patent Office regarding its patent application covering Bradycor, the company's lead bradykinin antagonist, and certain related compounds (Marketletters passim). The company says it expects the patent to be issued in due course.

Bradycor blocks the action of bradykinin, a peptide generated in response to injury that is a mediator of pain, endothelial cell damage, head injury, burn, multiple trauma and hantavirus patients, according to the company.

Cortech is developing three novel classes of drugs - bradykinin antagonists, elastase inhibitors and antigen-specific immunomodulators - for inflammatory and immunologic disorders. However, in a press release, it warns that it can give no assurance that current R&D efforts will lead to marketable products.