RegeneRx Receives Notice of Intent to Grant Patent in EU for Treating Neural Injury with Thymosin Beta 4
Monday, December 19, 2016
RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage drug development company focused on tissue protection, repair and regeneration, today announced that it has received notice of Intent to Grant a patent from the European Patent Office for treating neural injury using Thymosin beta 4 (Tβ4), the active pharmaceutical ingredient in the RegeneRx's proprietary drug candidate, RGN-352. The treatment claims include treating neural injury by remyelinating damaged neurons using Tβ4, which has been shown to promote migration of certain immature brain cells, called oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, to the site of injury and to enhance the maturation of these cells to become functional oligodendrocytes that then aid in the repair of the damaged brain. Researchers have demonstrated that not only can Tβ4 repair damaged brain tissue but that it also significantly restores motor and cognitive function in experimental animal models.
The research supporting this patent was conducted by Dr. Michael Chopp's research team at the Henry Ford Hospital System in Detroit, MI and has been published in numerous neurological scientific journals.
The patent expiry is March 26, 2030, not including any potential extensions.
"This patent expands the scope of potential administration of RGN-352, our systemic formulation of Tβ4, in patients with neural injury and disease. The reparative and regenerative results found by Dr. Chopp and his team in the injured neural tissue in their animal models builds considerably on the results seen at other tissue sites, including in the heart after a heart attack. Tβ4 appears to recruit immature cells to the site of injury and cause them to mature into cells of destiny, similar to the goal of stem cell therapy but without the difficulty of isolating and delivering stem cells," stated J.J. Finkelstein, RegeneRx's president and chief executive officer.
