01/05/2018
European Patent for Arecor's proprietary technology enabling highly concentrated biotherapeutics.
Park occupier, Arecor Ltd, the UK-based leading formulation technology company, focussed on developing superior biopharmaceuticals via the innovative reformulation of proteins and peptides, is pleased to announce the European Patent Office (“EPO”) has issued “Notice of Intention to Grant” for Arecor’s patent application protecting the Company’s proprietary technology used in the development of stable, low-viscosity formulations of highly concentrated protein therapeutics, including monoclonal antibodies such as trastuzumab or ustekinumab or fusion proteins such as abatacept.
The patent will provide Arecor’s novel proprietary technology with broad protection in the formulation of highly concentrated compositions of therapeutic proteins with low viscosity and a very low rate of aggregation and these compositions will enable the subcutaneous delivery of high value products to a considerably higher specification compared with other approaches.
A combination of the high therapeutic dose and the highly desirable low injection volume often leads to a need for very highly concentrated formulations of protein based therapeutics. Achieving such concentrated formulations can be exceptionally challenging. Arecor has developed a novel proprietary technology to formulating highly concentrated compositions of therapeutic proteins with low viscosity and a very low rate of aggregation, thus enabling a subcutaneous delivery of high value products where other approaches have failed. The technology consists of several novel formulation platforms and computational algorithms that identify unique combinations of excipients to achieve the required stability and viscosity for any given protein. The novel platforms are already protected by a number of patents and the latest communication from the EPO regarding the intention to grant an additional patent, which is specific to stable, low-viscosity compositions of concentrated proteins, further strengthens Arecor’s intellectual property portfolio.
Dr Jan Jezek, Chief Scientific Officer at Arecor, commented: “The intention of the European Patent Office to grant this patent is a very important milestone in our rapidly growing patent portfolio. We have been very successful in patenting unique combinations of excipients that impart considerably improved stability of protein and peptide-based therapeutics, as well as different types of vaccines. This new patent relates specifically to concentrated protein formulations, which is one of the most challenging and fastest growing areas of the biopharmaceutical industry. The patent considerably strengthens our patent portfolio and our position as a world leader in the formulation of superior biotherapeutics and vaccines.”