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Viralytics Limited (ASX:
VLA)
has received a Notice of Allowance from the
United States Patent Office for its patent
application covering the use of Echoviruses
(including EVATAKTM) for the
treatment of all cancers bearing expression of
the integrin
a2ß1.
EVATAKTM is the trade name for
Viralytics’ proprietary formulation of the
Echovirus Type 1.
Examples of cancers expressing high surface
levels of the integrin
a2ß1
are ovarian and prostate cancer, two of the most
commonly occurring
cancers. The USA patent when granted will
provide Viralytics protection over the exclusive
use in the US of integrin
a2ß1 –binding
Echoviruses including EVATAKTM until
2023.
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A Notice of Allowance is formal advice (publicly
available) that the US Patent Office has completed its
final examination of the patent application and now
intends to issue a patent subject to the completion of
administrative matters.
Professor Darren Shafren (Chief Scientist Officer and
inventor of the technology) said, “Numerous cancers have
elevated surface levels of integrin
a2ß1.
The presence of integrin
a2ß1
allows our family of echoviruses to lock onto the
surface of cancer cells, leading to rapid infection and
cellular destruction. The patent, when granted, also
covers the right
to use EVATAKTM in conjunction with other
oncolytic viruses such as the Company’s lead product
CAVATAKTM.”
The Company’s intellectual property portfolio has grown
significantly in value this year with the issuing of
this Notice of Allowance for EVATAKTM as well
as the granting of both US and European patents for a
subset of Coxsackie A group viruses including CAVATAKTM.
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Bryan Dulhunty, Executive Chairman
02 9499 3200
bryan.dulhunty@viralytics.com
About Viralytics Ltd
Viralytics is listed on the Australian Stock
Exchange (ASX code: VLA), Viralytics ADR trades
under VRACY on the OTC market in the USA.
Viralytics’ principal asset is the intellectual
property relating to CAVATAK™, an Oncolytic
Virus technology. CAVATAK™ is the trade name for
Viralytics’ proprietary formulation of the
Coxsackievirus Type A21 (CVA21). CVA21 is a
human virus that occurs naturally in the
community. CVA21 attaches to the outside of a
cell, using a specific ‘receptor’ on the cell’s
surface (like a key fitting a lock). CVA21 uses
two receptors to infect cells, intercellular
adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and/or decay
accelerating factor (DAF). Both of these
receptor proteins have been demonstrated to be
highly expressed on multiple cancer types,
including: melanoma, prostate cancer, breast
cancer, multiple myeloma and others.
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