Heidelberg, March 24 2009 – SYGNIS Pharma AG (Frankfurt: LIO; ISIN DE0005043509; Prime Standard) announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today granted the patent for AX200 for the treatment of stroke patients. The USPTO thus confirms the Notice of Allowance which was published in December 2008 and grants SYGNIS protection for its lead compound, AX200, in the indication of acute ischemic stroke in the USA. The patent was issued as U.S. Patent No. 7,507,705.
“This decision by the USPTO strengthens our position in the world’s largest pharmaceutical market and confirms our strategy of increasing the commercial potential of our compounds through broadened patent protection. We look forward to continuing the development of AX200 in acute ischemic stroke with the forthcoming initiation of our planned phase II efficacy trial” said Dr. Alfred Bach, CEO of SYGNIS.
In June 2006, SYGNIS exclusively licensed the respective global rights to this patent application from the Max-Planck Gesellschaft. The corresponding European patent was already granted by the European Patent Office in 2004.