California Pharmaceutical Company Receives European Patent Related to Multiple Sclerosis
California – Mountain View Pharmaceuticals (also known as ‘MVP’) announced that it was granted a European Patent titled “Polyethylene Glycol Conjugates of Interferon-beta-1b with Enhanced in vitro Biological Potency.” This patent aims to aid in the reduction of cases in which patients with multiple sclerosis suffer from a relapse.
European Patent No. 1,667,708 B1 is just one of the 170 worldwide patents that MVP has been issued. MVP’s Vice-President and Scientific Director Dr. Mark G.P. Saifer made a statement regarding the newly assigned patent stating, “In contrast with other patents and publications relating to PEG conjugates of interferon-beta, MVP’s new European patent claims polymer conjugates of interferon-beta-1b that have increased in vitro potency, measured with human cancer cells in culture, and methods of synthesis of these novel conjugates. If our preclinical results are predictive of the performance of the PEG conjugates in humans, conversion of interferon-beta-1b to a long-acting form with higher potency could enhance the utility of this drug in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, viral infections and other conditions.”
MVP, a privately owned Corporation, uses the polyethylene glycol (PEG) process in multiple of its patents. On its website, MVP uses the following phrase as its motto, “Better PEGs in Better Places for Better Products” and among its many registered trademarks, the pharmaceutical company is the owner of the U.S. trademark ‘PharmaPEG’ for multiple goods and services. MVP has also recently announced that it will publicize a scientific report that has been titled, “Next-Generation PEGylation Enables Reduced Immunoreactivity of PEG-Protein Conjugates,” which will be published in the Drug Development & Delivery’s June 2012 issue.
Dr. Merry R. Sherman, Chief Executive Officer and President of MVP stated of its research and newly announced publication, “MVP’s technology related to long-acting forms of drugs based on therapeutic enzymes or cytokines is the product of more than a decade of research and represents a major advance directed toward the multi-billion-dollar market for PEGylated proteins,” and “Our recent publications illustrating the advantages of PharmaPEG-protein conjugates, compared with conventional mPEG-protein conjugates, are expected to reach a wide audience of pharmaceutical professionals, including those attending the Biotechnology International Organization Conference (“BIO 2012″) in Boston.” Based on its history, it seems as though MVP has many more ground breaking ideas for the future.
