Anixa Biosciences (NASDAQ:ANIX) reported that its partner, Cleveland Clinic, received a “Decision to Grant” notice from the Japan Patent Office (JPO) for the patent application covering the company’s ovarian cancer vaccines.
“This new Japanese patent extends the expanded claims for this novel ovarian cancer vaccine technology to another geographic region, joining the European and U.S. patents awarded last year,” Dr. Amit Kumar, chairman and CEO of Anixa, said in a statement.
Dr. Kumar added, “as the exclusive worldwide licensee of the technology, we highly value the broad protection this patent provides as our research and development continues.”
The patent, titled “Ovarian Cancer Vaccines”, was invented by the late Dr. Vincent Tuohy, Dr. Suparna Mazumder, and Dr. Justin Johnson of Cleveland Clinic. Anixa exclusively licensed the technology from and is developing the technology in partnership with the not-for-profit, multispecialty academic medical center. Preclinical work on the vaccine is being supported by the National Cancer Institute’s PREVENT Program.
The ovarian cancer vaccine targets the extracellular domain of anti-Müllerian hormone receptor 2 (AMHR2-ED), which is expressed in the ovaries but disappears as a woman reaches and advances through menopause. However, AMHR2-ED is expressed again in the majority of ovarian cancers.
