VASTox granted key European patent for Zebrafish chemical genomics

18-Apr-2007

VASTox plc announced that the European Patent Office has granted a patent (EP1644733/Screening Methods Employing the Zebrafish and the Blood Brain Barrier), which significantly increases the value of the Company's zebrafish disease modelling and chemical genomics technology platform, and provides protection against other organisations using similar technology. This patent has also been filed in other territories including the US, Japan and Australia. According to the company, VASTox has an extensive patent estate protecting the Company's zebrafish technology platform with over 15 patents either granted or filed and under examination in the world's major territories.

The zebrafish is a valuable drug discovery model due to significant genetic similarities with humans, including conservation of vital organs, and it provides in vivo safety and efficacy data from the earliest stages of the drug discovery process. The blood brain barrier ('BBB') has important considerations in the development of new therapeutics and is a major cause of neurological drug candidates failing in clinical trials as they cannot penetrate this protective layer of blood vessels surrounding the brain. This new patent indicates the existence of a functional BBB in zebrafish and allows VASTox to use this important physiological feature for the discovery and development of new medicines.

Steven Lee, PhD, CEO, commented: "The granting of this patent consolidates VASTox's position as the world's dominant player in the use of zebrafish to discover and develop new medicines. This represents another step towards the Company benefiting from the pharmaceutical industry's increasing adoption of our technology."

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/63731/vastox-granted-key-european-patent-for-zebrafish-chemical-genomics.html