Hadasit Bio Holdings Ltd. (TASE:HDST) portfolio company ProtAb Ltd. has received a patent for an antibody which is the basis for what will be the company’s flagship product.
The antibody is geared to contribute to treatment of Type 1 diabetes as well as rheumatoid arthritis.
ProtAb reported that the allowance of a patent on the technology supporting an antibody called Proximab. The patent covers its structure as well as its immune and therapeutic activity against rheumatoid arthritis and Type-1 diabetes.
Proximab is the basis for what will be the company’s flagship product.
ProtAb currently has patents registered in the United States, Australia, and European countries. The notice of allowance reported today relates to patent application 10/931,944.
ProtAb CEO Shira Yair said, “This patent arrives at a favorable moment for the company. We recently completed the last stage of an important process known as humanization of Proximab. Essentially, we now have a version of this antibody specifically meant for humans rather than animals". She added that the patent approval paves the way for clinical trials.
ProtAb is now currently readying production of the antibody for use in a phase I clinical safety study to take place at the new Hadassah Clinical Research Center in Ein Kerem.
Pre-clinical studies have shown Proximab to be safe and efficacious in an animal model. More specifically, after humanization, the antibody has demonstrated to preserve its properties and appears to be the appropriate configuration for clinical trials in humans.
The patent "makes it possible for us to move ahead toward clinical trials in human beings,” said Professor Yaakov Naparstek, chairman of medicine at the HadassahHebrew University Hospital in Ein Kerem, ProtAb’s chief scientific officer and the inventor of the technology.
Shares in Jerusalem-based Hadasit Bio fell 2.9% yesterday on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE).
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 3, 2008
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