Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.Regulus Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company leading the discovery and development of innovative medicines targeting microRNAs, has announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance in the company's exclusively licensed ETH Zurich patent family, for claims that cover methods of reducing blood glucose with modified oligonucleotides targeting microRNA-103/107 (miR-103/107).
Subscribe to our email newsletter
In addition to this recently allowed application, the patent family includes applications pending in other major markets including Australia, Canada, China, Europe and Japan.
The exclusively licensed technology relates to the discovery that inhibition of miR-103/107 with proprietary, chemically modified oligonucleotides improved glucose homeostasis and insulin sensitivity in mouse models of diabetes and obesity (Trajkovski et al., Nature, 2011).
These findings, which originated from the laboratory of Dr. Markus Stoffel, Professor of the Institute of Molecular Health Sciences at ETH Zurich and member of Regulus’ Scientific Advisory Board, established miR-103/107 as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes and obesity.
"Regulus continues to build and strengthen its intellectual property position, which includes over one thousand patents and patent applications, and supports each of our therapeutic programs as part of our overall development and commercialization strategy," said David Szekeres, Chief Business Officer and General Counsel.
"The Notice of Allowance is for claims directed to methods of lowering blood glucose in subjects including those having a variety of metabolic disorders, with anti-miRs targeting miR-103/107, including anti-miRs in development by Regulus."
Neil W. Gibson, Ph.D., Regulus’ Chief Scientific Officer, added, "In preclinical models of diabetes, we have demonstrated that inhibition of miR-103/107 with our anti-miRs leads to a sustained reduction in fasting glucose and fasting insulin levels. Currently, Regulus and AstraZeneca are working to develop an anti-miR-103/107 to treat metabolic disorders and we expect to present additional preclinical data on this exciting program at upcoming scientific conferences."