The technical board of appeal of the European patent office (EPO) has affirmed the decision to revoke the claims of European patent 1093381 as granted to Pharmexa in 2003.
The Pharmexa patent had been granted with broad claims covering the use of telomerase peptides and nucleic acids for cancer immunotherapy. Geron filed an opposition requesting that the EPO revoke the patent based, in part, on Geron's earlier patent filings covering telomerase.
In 2005, the opposition division of the EPO revoked the claims of Pharmexa's patent as granted, replacing them with narrow claims limited to five specific peptide sequences.
Pharmexa appealed the decision to the EPO technical board of appeals (TBA), but the board found that Pharmexa was not entitled to the broad claims in its main request, or to the claims of sixteen alternative claim sets that Pharmexa had also submitted. The TBA found that Pharmexa was only entitled to claims limited to the five specific small peptides of telomerase, consistent with the decision of the opposition division.
“The decision means that Pharmexa has failed in its attempt to obtain broad claims to telomerase-based cancer vaccines,” said David Earp, Geron's chief patent counsel and senior vice president of business development. “Moreover, Pharmexa is not licensed under Geron's telomerase patents, which include an issued US patent and a pending European application covering immunogenic telomerase peptides. Geron is committed to protecting its investment in telomerase technology through this patent portfolio.”