Generex extends scope of its patent protection in the USA

Canadian biotechnology firm Generex says that its wholly-owned US subsidiary, Antigen Express, has received notice of allowance from the US patent Office in relation to patent application number 10/197,000, entitled Hybrid Peptides Modulate the Immune Response. The firm added that the specific award covers fundamental aspects of the design and use of its li-Key antigenic epitope hybrid technology in treating disease.

Generex explained that the li-Key molecule, which is based on a small fragment of the major histocompatibility complex' class II associated invariant li protein chain, increases the ability of specific antigens to elicit a T helper cell response. The firm said that a molecule developed with the technology, AE37, is currently being examined in a Phase II trial as a treatment for breast cancer, and added that it has initiated similar studies on a synthetic avian influenza vaccine designed using the same principals.