The patent application includes the manufacturing process of a compound that uses the
same active ingredient, Tenofovir, used in a drug marketed by Gilead Sciences under the trade name Viread.
Both drugs work by blocking an enzyme the hepatitis virus needs to replicate.
The company expects to start a Phase I human safety trial to evaluate AGX-1009 in 2012.
Agenix chairman and CEO Nicholas Weston said this important patent application confers further certainty in China and increases the commercial value of this treatment for hepatitis B in geographies outside of China.
"We continue to expand our patent portfolio which is fundamental to our future commercial licensing,
clinical development and strategic business partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies," Weston said.