Sonepcizumab is the drug substance included in company’s two lead compounds – iSONEP and ASONEP.
Sonepcizumab is an antibody that binds to and inhibits sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), a bioactive lipid that has been validated as a target in multiple disease states.
The new patent claims nucleic acids encoding heavy and light chains of antibodies to S1P, as well as engineered plasmids and host cells designed to express a humanized monoclonal antibody to S1P.
Lpath Intellectual Property executive director Laurel Bernstein said Lpath has built matrix of coverage in the field of antibodies to biological lipids, including S1P.
"This matrix now includes issued claims to the plasmids and cells used to produce our lead antibody compound, sonepcizumab," Bernstein said.