Stem Cell Sciences announces validation of European IRES technology patent

Stem Cell Sciences’s (SCS’s) IRES (internal ribosome entry site) technology enables researchers to monitor the activity of a gene of interest in living cells or tissues without blocking the normal function of the gene. In particular, IRES is said to be important for evaluating the success of gene deletions (knock-outs) or insertions (knock-ins) in stem cells, which is crucial for the successful creation of transgenic mouse and rat disease models.

According to the company, the decision confirms the validity of the patent protection for this technology in Europe and adds value to SCS’s current licensing and commercialization strategy. The maintenance of this patent is expected to enable SCS to complete licensing deals held up while potential licensees awaited the outcome of the appeal hearing, generating another source of licensing income.

The company has also announced that the UK Intellectual Property Office has recently granted a UK patent which covers methods for obtaining cells, especially stem cells, which are particularly useful for drug screening applications and high-throughput assays examining the effects of genes and molecules on stem cell growth.

The key step protected by this patent relates to a process known as ‘episomal expression’ whereby genes of interest remain as free DNA in the cell (an ‘episome’) rather than being integrated into the chromosome, and this results in more efficient expression of the genes and molecules under assay, the company said.

Alastair Riddell, CEO of Stem Cell Sciences, said: “This confirmation of validity of our IRES patent in Europe, which is also granted in the US and elsewhere, as well as this new UK patent, will greatly assist our current discussions with potential licensees to our intellectual property.”