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MediciNova Receives Notice of Allowance for New Patent Covering MN-001 for the Treatment of Hypertriglyceridemia, Hypercholesterolemia, and Hyperlipoproteinemia in China
LA JOLLA, Calif., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MediciNova, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company traded on the NASDAQ Global Market (NASDAQ:MNOV) and the
About this update from Medicinova, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"LA JOLLA, Calif., April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MediciNova, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company traded on the NASDAQ Global Market (NASDAQ:MNOV) and the JASDAQ Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (Code Number: 4875), today announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the Chinese Patent Office for a pending patent application which covers MN-001 (tipelukast) for the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, and hyperlipoproteinemia.Once issued, the patent maturing from this allowed patent application is expected to expire no earlier than July 2034. The allowed claims cover the use of MN-001 for reducing a triglyceride blood level, the use of MN-001 for reducing a total cholesterol blood level, and the use of MN-001 for reducing a low density lipoprotein (LDL) blood level. The allowed claims cover oral administration including liquid and solid dosage forms.Yuichi Iwaki, MD, PhD, President and CEO of MediciNova, Inc. commented, \"We are very pleased to receive notice that this new patent will be granted and we believe it could substantially increase the potential value of MN-001. Although we have an existing patent that covers the polymorphic form of MN-001 in China, this will be the first method of use patent granted in China for MN-001. We have recently been granted two patents which cover MN-001 for hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia and fibrotic diseases in Japan. With these three new patents, we are planning to expand our development efforts in Asia.\"About MN-001MN-001 (tipelukast) is a novel, orally bioavailable small molecule compound thought to exert its effects through several mechanisms to produce its anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic activity in preclinical models, including leukotriene (LT) receptor antagonism, inhibition of phosphodiesterases (PDE) (mainly 3 and 4), and inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO). The 5-LO/LT pathway has been postulated as a pathogenic factor in fibrosis development, and MN-001's inhibitory effect on 5-LO and the 5-LO/LT pathway is considered to be a novel approach to treat fibrosis. MN-001 has been shown to down-regulate expression of genes that promote fibrosis including LOXL2, Collagen Type 1 and TIMP-1. MN-001 has also been shown to down-regulate expression of genes that promote inflammation including CCR2 and MCP-1. In addition, histopathological d...