Ocean Biomedical extends patent rights for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis discovery to Europe

Biopharma company Ocean Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ: OCEA) on Friday revealed that its scientific co-founder Dr. Jack Elias has received notice from the European Patent Office, of its intention to grant European patent rights for methods and compositions relating to the treatment of fibrosis using Ocean’s anti-Chitinase-1 small molecule candidate. It is a new target discovered by Dr. Elias which appears to be a major factor in controlling, and inhibiting, fibrosis progression.

Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, the company’s co-founder and executive chairman, said, “Combining innovative science with a great management team has the potential for great impact. We are pleased to receive this patent extension and look forward to getting new drugs to patients in Europe and the world.”

Global Coverage

The patent notice extends global coverage for Dr. Elias’ discovery, with the potential for treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other fibrotic diseases including scleroderma, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome, and alcoholic liver disease. Ocean Biomedical is a biopharmaceutical company focused on clinical programs in oncology, fibrosis, and infectious disease. Its business model involves partnerships with scientists, research universities, and medical centers for developing and commercializing their discoveries.

(Source: Ocean Biomedical, Inc.)

“I’ve been working with patients with pulmonary fibrosis conditions throughout my career and I’ve always been disappointed in the treatment options available. I’m hopeful we can develop these discoveries into a new, more effective treatment approach for patients and doctors,” commented Dr. Elias.

Findings

The company’s treatment approach has shown an 85- 90% reduction in collagen accumulation in four “gold standard” IPF and HPS pulmonary fibrosis animal models. This approach is anticipated to be well-tolerated based on data from original (non-Ocean) clinical studies and recent EPA data.

“Ocean Biomedical is committed to advancing new discoveries to meet large unmet medical needs globally, and we will continue to push our anti-fibrosis program forward to advance this important work,” said Elizabeth Ng, chief executive officer of Ocean Biomedical.

Earlier this month, Ocean Biomedical’s scientific co-founder Dr. Jonathan Kurtis received a new patent for his malaria vaccine discoveries. The patent was awarded for the breakthrough approach to disrupting the malaria parasite’s life cycle.