LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MiNA Therapeutics, the pioneer in RNA activation therapeutics, announced today that the European Patent Office (EPO) has granted a patent in the Corey patent estate (EP Patent Number 2641970). This patent stems from the pioneering RNAa research performed by the Corey lab at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, which was exclusively licensed by MiNA in 2013. The Corey patent estate represents a strong component of MiNA’s fundamental intellectual property portfolio that broadly covers RNAa therapeutics, including small activating RNAs, or saRNAs, the molecules that mediate RNAa.
“We are pleased with the EPO’s decision to grant claims from the Corey patent estate, an early filing in RNAa therapeutics research that broadly describes many applications for saRNAs,” said Robert Habib, Chief Executive Officer of MiNA Therapeutics. “The grant of this patent in the EU not only validates Dr Corey’s contribution to the field but provides MiNA with broad patent protection arising from our fundamental IP estate.”
“We are gratified that the EPO continues to recognize the importance and patentability of our early discoveries in the RNAa field,” said David Corey, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and an inventor on the Corey patent estate. “There has already been great progress in the advancement of RNAa therapeutics.”
The new patent includes 15 claims covering compositions and uses of isolated or synthetic double-stranded RNA oligomers (saRNA). The composition claims cover any saRNA with a length of 12-28 nucleotides targeting a region between -100 and +25 relative to the transcription start site within a gene’s promoter broadly for use in medicine where transcription of the gene is increased. Specific genes which are covered by dependent claims include p53, PTEN, human progesterone receptor, E-cadherin and major vault protein.
About MiNA Therapeutics
MiNA Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery and development of a new class of medicines that selectively up-regulate proteins inside patient cells. MiNA’s proprietary RNA activation (RNAa) technology platform enables up-regulation of beneficial proteins by the selective and long lasting transcriptional activation of a target gene. RNAa has unique potential to target diseases that are untreatable with today’s conventional medicine. MiNA’s novel drugs, termed small activating RNAs (saRNAs), leverage existing RNA delivery technologies to accelerate the development of drug candidates. The company is developing MTL-CEBPA, a first in class treatment for advanced liver cancer. MiNA was founded in 2008 by pioneering researchers John Rossi, Nagy Habib and Pal Saetrom. The company is privately held and located in London, United Kingdom. To learn more visit www.minatx.com.
