Anixa Biosciences, a Nasdaq-listed company (ANIX), has won Korean Patent Number 10-2960889 for its breast cancer vaccine technology. The patent runs through 2040. It is the company’s first in South Korea.
The Korean Ministry of Intellectual Property issued the grant, Anixa said on 29 June. It is a composition-of-matter patent, exclusively licensed from Cleveland Clinic, and covers the company’s approach to preventing and treating breast cancer in South Korea. Anixa noted that no preventive breast cancer vaccine is approved anywhere in the world.
The company, based in San Jose, California, already holds patents in the United States and other key markets. It said the new one gives it more room to pursue regulatory approvals, partnerships and commercialisation.
Why South Korea
Anixa cited the local picture. Breast cancer survival rates in South Korea are high, but the incidence rate has been rising rapidly, and unlike in Western countries the disease tends to appear earlier in life. The company said that raises the need for preventive options there. Worldwide, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women.
The vaccine and the trial
The vaccine immunises against human alpha-lactalbumin, a protein linked to lactation that appears abnormally in certain breast cancers. Cleveland Clinic developed this “retired” protein strategy, and Anixa licenses it exclusively. The aim is to prime the immune system to prevent tumours from forming while sparing normal tissue, particularly in aggressive forms such as triple-negative breast cancer.
“Each global patent we secure deepens the global foundation we are building for our breast cancer vaccine,” said Dr. Amit Kumar, Anixa’s chairman and CEO. He said the growing portfolio strengthens the company’s ability to pursue global opportunities and possibly partner with larger pharmaceutical companies for worldwide commercialisation.
Kumar also pointed to a recently completed Phase 1 trial run at Cleveland Clinic. In it, he said, the vaccine met all major primary endpoints, was safe and well tolerated, and generated immune responses in 74 percent of participants. Clinical development is continuing in the US. Anixa has not reported efficacy results from a larger trial, and a patent is not evidence that a vaccine works.
Anixa describes itself as a clinical-stage company. Besides the breast cancer vaccine, its work includes lira-cel, an ovarian cancer immunotherapy being developed with Moffitt Cancer Center. Cleveland Clinic is entitled to royalties and other commercialisation revenue from the vaccine technologies.
The vaccine is still in clinical development. Women with questions about breast cancer risk or screening should consult their doctor.
Sources
- Anixa Biosciences Granted First Korean Patent for its Breast Cancer Vaccine, Extending Global Protection Through 2040
- Anixa Biosciences Granted First Korean Patent for its Breast Cancer Vaccine, Extending Global Protection Through 2040
