TORONTO, July 10 /CNW/ - ARIUS Research Inc., (TSX: ARI), a biotechnology company discovering and developing the next wave of antibody therapeutics, today announced that the Company has been granted two U.S. patents for antibodies within its CD44 Stem Cell Program and its CD59 Complement Inhibitor Program.
Patent 7,189,397 entitled "Cytotoxicity mediation of cells evidencing surface expression of CD44" covers the use of proprietary anti-cancer antibodies for treating tumor cells which express CD44 on the cell surface. The antigen CD44 has been implicated as a cancer stem cell marker in breast and prostate cancers. ARIUS is developing a CD44 targeting antibody for the treatment of solid tumors such as breast, prostate and liver cancers and plans to initiate human clinical trials in 2008.
Patent 7,195,764 entitled "Cancerous Disease Modifying Antibodies" covers the use of proprietary antibodies against CD59, an antigen used by cancer cells to hide from the body's own immune system. The Company considers this a novel mechanism that could address the need for new cancer therapies. The patent covers the use of CD59 targeting antibodies for the treatment of colon, ovarian, prostate and breast tumors.
"With the addition of these two patents, we now have 16 issued and allowed patents, and more than 140 patent applications that are currently pending," said Dr. David Young, Chairman, President and CEO of ARIUS. "We will continue to file new patent applications to protect our discoveries and provide additional commercial and scientific validation to our FunctionFIRST(TM) drug discovery technology."
About ARIUS
ARIUS is a biotechnology company discovering and developing the next wave of antibody therapeutics. Established in 1999, ARIUS has built a proprietary technology platform, FunctionFIRST(TM), that rapidly identifies and selects antibodies based on their functional ability to affect disease. This antibody generation engine has enabled ARIUS to assemble a portfolio of more than 400 antibody candidates. In addition to the antibodies it is developing in-house, ARIUS has ongoing partnerships with key biotechnology and drug development companies. ARIUS is listed on the TSX under the symbol "ARI". For further information, visit www.ariusresearch.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to, ARIUS successfully advancing its new product programs as well as licensing opportunities. These statements are only predictions and actual events or results may differ materially. Factors that could cause such actual events or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by such statements include, but are not limited to: early stage of development; technology and product development; dependence on and management of current and future corporate collaborations; future capital needs; uncertainty of additional funding; no assurance of market acceptance; dependence on proprietary technology and uncertainty of patent protection; intense competition; manufacturing and market uncertainties; and government regulation. These and other factors are described in detail in ARIUS' Annual Report, forthcoming news releases and other filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities available at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and ARIUS is not obligated to update such information to reflect later events or developments.
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