MORRIS PLAINS, N.J., May 1, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immunomedics, Inc. (Nasdaq:IMMU), a biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on the development of monoclonal antibody-based products for the targeted treatment of cancer, autoimmune and other serious diseases, today announced the issuance of US patent 8,168,186 for additional claims for the patent family "Therapeutic using a bispecific antibody."
The allowed claims under the patent cover methods of use of bispecific antibodies for pretargeted imaging and therapy of diseases such as cancer, autoimmune disease, septic shock and infectious disease. The patent provides coverage until February 2021.
Commenting on the patent award, Cynthia L. Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "We are pleased to receive this new patent. Pretargeting has the potential of increasing the delivery of therapeutic dosage to diseased tissue without simultaneously raising the toxic side effects of the treatment regimen to the rest of the body."
Pretargeting is a new approach of antibody-directed therapy pioneered by the Company and its majority-owned subsidiary, IBC Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Through the use of a bispecific antibody, pretargeting separates the localization of a target tissue by the antibody from the delivery of the therapeutic agent, which the bispecific antibody also recognizes and binds. In preclinical models, this method of delivery has been shown to produce a higher signal at the target, compared to background tissues, or a higher deposit of the therapeutic to a tumor. Pretargeting can potentially be used for the diagnosis and treatment of a wide variety of diseases, including cancer and infectious diseases.
About Immunomedics
Immunomedics is a New Jersey-based biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on the development of monoclonal antibody-based products for the targeted treatment of cancer, autoimmune and other serious diseases. We have developed a number of advanced proprietary technologies that allow us to create humanized antibodies that can be used either alone in unlabeled or "naked" form, or conjugated with radioactive isotopes, chemotherapeutics, cytokines or toxins, in each case to create highly targeted agents. Using these technologies, we have built a pipeline of therapeutic product candidates that utilize several different mechanisms of action. We also have a majority ownership in IBC Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which is developing a novel Dock-and-Lock (DNL) methodology with us for making fusion proteins and multifunctional antibodies, and a new method of delivering imaging and therapeutic agents selectively to disease, especially different solid cancers (colorectal, lung, pancreas, etc.), by proprietary, antibody-based, pretargeting methods. We believe that our portfolio of intellectual property, which includes approximately 199 patents issued in the United States and more than 400 foreign patents, protects our product candidates and technologies. For additional information on us, please visit our website at http://www.immunomedics.com/ blocked::http://www.immunomedics.com/">www.immunomedics.com. The information on our website does not, however, form a part of this press release.
This release, in addition to historical information, may contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements, including statements regarding clinical trials, out-licensing arrangements (including the timing and amount of contingent payments), forecasts of future operating results, potential collaborations, and capital raising activities, involve significant risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied herein. Factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to, risks associated with any cash payment that the Company might receive in connection with a sublicense involving a third party and UCB, which is not within the Company's control, new product development (including clinical trials outcome and regulatory requirements/actions), our dependence on our licensing partners for the further development of epratuzumab for autoimmune indications and veltuzumab for non-cancer indications, competitive risks to marketed products and availability of required financing and other sources of funds on acceptable terms, if at all, as well as the risks discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is not under any obligation, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation, to update or alter any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.