Advaxis, Inc has received notification from the European Patent Office (EPO) that Advaxis patent application 98957980.0 titled “Bacterial Vaccines Comprising Auxotrophic, Attenuated Strains of Listeria Expressing Heterologous Antigens,” has been granted and will be issued as patent #1032417. This application complements the already obtained US and Japan approvals for this technology and extends Advaxis’ intellectual property protection.
This novel form of bioengineered Lm was designed to be an improved vaccine strain of the bacterium with a lower level of virulence and a higher level of immunogenicity; resulting in a potentially safer and more effective therapeutic agent. Both the breast cancer and prostate cancer vaccines planned for clinical development use the new Lm strain.
Advaxis’ intellectual property portfolio contains compositions of matter, uses and methods that go to the manufacture and use of live, attenuated Lm vaccines that secrete antigen-adjuvant fusion proteins; and, for the manufacture and use of the fusion proteins independent of Lm. Currently, Advaxis has patents, either issued or in process, for three (3) different bioengineered strains of Lm with different properties for use as human vaccines, as well as patents covering two (2) separate families of adjuvant fusions based on the molecules LLO (listeriolysin O) and ActA.
The EPO provides a uniform application procedure for individual inventors and companies seeking patent protection in up to thirty-eight (38) European countries. It is the executive arm of the EPO and is supervised by the Administrative Council.
