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Innovation Pharmaceuticals Granted European Patent for Brilacidin in the Prevention of Oral Mucositis
Innovation Pharmaceuticals Granted European Patent for Brilacidin in the Prevention of Oral Mucositis.
About this update from Innovation Pharmaceuticals Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n BEVERLY, Mass., Dec. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Innovation Pharmaceuticals, (OTCQB:IPIX) (“the Company”), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today that the European Patent Office has granted a European patent for Brilacidin, the Company’s first-in-class defensin-mimetic, in the prevention and control of Oral Mucositis (OM).  Brilacidin-OM is being developed under an FDA Fast Track designation for this indication.\n The European patent supplements other Brilacidin-OM patents that have been granted in the United States, Asia (Japan, Taiwan, China), Oceania (Australia) and South Africa. All currently issued patents have an expiration date of 2032. Additional Brilacidin-OM patent applications are pending in other key markets including Russia and South Korea. The European patent is part and parcel to the Company’s strategy to develop and commercialize Brilacidin-OM internationally through licensing agreements.  An estimated 700,000 (source: GLOBOCAN) Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) patients worldwide will develop OM this year, with the figures expected to climb to over one million annually by 2023.  In spite of OM incidence rates ranging as high as 100 percent in HNC, there currently are no FDA-approved drugs for the prevention and treatment of OM in these types of cancer patients receiving chemoradiation. “We are looking at a global product opportunity with OM that is extremely attractive and intellectual property protection is critical.  With no approved drugs for our initial target indication in preventing OM in HNC, the first company to commercialize a safe and effective drug would undoubtedly command a significant portion of the market, which is estimated to be at least $1 billion worldwide,” said Leo Ehrlich, Chief Executive Officer at Innovation Pharmaceuticals.  “The topline data released yesterday from our Phase 2 trial showed a meaningful reduction in the incidence of severe OM even compared to a rate somewhat lower than historic norms in the placebo arm, demonstrating Brilacidin-OM’s clear effect in preventing this extremely painful, and at times even deadly, consequence of chemoradiation in a majority of HNC patients treated with the drug.  I can’t imagine a physician not wanting to prescribe, and a patient not wanting...