Poolbeg Pharma (POLB) , a clinical-stage biopharma company focused on infectious diseases, announced that the US Patent Office had granted its US Immunomodulator I patent application.
The patent covers a class of drugs known as p38 MAP kinase inhibitors, which include POLB 001 - Poolbeg's flagship anti-inflammatory candidate for the treatment of severe influenza and hypercytokinemia (cytokine storm) characteristic of severe influenza. This encompasses cytokine storm induced in any disease indication.
The US patent grant marks a significant step in the development of POLB 001, a potent Phase II-ready p38 MAP kinase inhibitor, which has shown strong potential across multiple disease areas. Notably, POLB 001 has shown effectiveness in treating cytokine release syndrome (CRS) affecting patients receiving certain cancer immunotherapies. In November 2023, Poolbeg was granted a similar patent for Immunomodulator II in Japan.
Jeremy Skillington, CEO of Poolbeg, commenting: "This award by the US patent office further strengthens the IP for our lead development candidate, POLB 001. Strong IP is the foundation of value creation in biopharma, and with each new patent, we not only protect our asset but also increase the commercial appeal of POLB 001 to prospective partners. We are excited by the potential of POLB 001 to address critical unmet medical needs and we remain focused on high value programmes and partnerships to develop and commercialise our assets."
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Poolbeg has been granted a key US patent covering its flagship oral candidate POLB 001. The grant represents a significant milestone for POLB as it advances commercial release and partnership talks for the asset. Poolbeg has a global license for POLB 001 and is actively building a comprehensive IP portfolio with patents in place, including Immunomodulator I and II, covering the use of the class of p38 MAP inhibitors for the treatment of severe influenza, and the use of POLB 001 for the treatment of hypercytokinaemia.
The announcement further highlights the progress Poolbeg has made in developing its portfolio, enhancing the value and attractiveness of POLB 001 to potential pharma partners, particularly in respect of cancer immunotherapies. In response to the news, investors sent POLB shares 6% higher in early trade on Wednesday. POLB has further patent applications in the pipeline for complimentary coverage relating to POLB 001.
POLB 001 has strong potential in making cancer immunotherapies more accessible by enabling their safer and broader use in an outpatient setting. The candidate has a compelling data package and targets unmet medical needs across several disease areas. POLB 001's potential to treat cancer immunotherapy-induced Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS) alone has a 3rd party-estimated market potential of US$10bn. The successful commercialisation of POLB 001 will be a major value inflection point for Poolbeg.
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