LONDON, UK – Prokarium, a clinical-stage biotech company specialising in Salmonella engineering to develop vaccines and microbial immunotherapy for solid tumours, today announced the receipt of a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent (Application No. 16/776429) protects Prokarium’s oral bivalent vaccine against enteric fever (Entervax®) in the US until 2039, not including a possible patent term extension of up to five years.
The patent covers modifications of Salmonella Typhi such that its natural surface-exposed polysaccharide and flagellin antigens are converted to, or augmented by, those from other Salmonella serovars, in particular S. enterica serovar Paratyphi. Such a modification leverages the long history of safe use of S. Typhi strains in humans as a typhoid vaccine, to deliver homologous antigens from other members of the genus Salmonella as components of innovative vaccines against enteric fever and Salmonellosis.
Ted Fjällman, Chief Executive Officer of Prokarium, commented, “We are particularly excited about the Notification of Allowance of this composition of matter patent in anticipation of upcoming results from the Phase 1 clinical trial, currently testing Entervax® in healthy volunteers in the UK. Enteric fever, a disease accounting for at least 20 million cases annually especially in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, is still a global threat and this patent will further support the development of Entervax® to bring an effective vaccine to at-risk populations. The USPTO’s allowance of this patent enhances the strength of our intellectual property protection around Salmonella engineering to deliver innovative products within vaccine and oncology fields.”
