Medigene AG: Medigene expands patent protection of its technologies in key markets, the USA and Europe

Medigene AG: Medigene expands patent protection of its technologies in key markets, the USA and Europe

Planegg/Martinsried (pta/13.01.2021/22:00) Medigene AG (Medigene, FSE: MDG1, Prime Standard), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company focusing on the development of T cell immunotherapies, was granted patents around certain technologies in significant territories including both the USA and Europe. Patent applications in further jurisdictions are pending.

TCR library (US10,858,760)
This US patent (a member of the same patent family was granted in Europe in 2019, EP3303591), covers Medigene's T cell receptor (TCR) building block library that enables rapid reconstruction and testing of newly discovered human TCR sequences.

The two TCR protein chains, alpha and beta, together determine the specificity of the TCR. The patent covers a library comprising 92 TCR constructs (including all 45 different TCR alpha chains and all 47 different TCR beta chains) that are needed as starting materials for recombinant expression of any TCR of interest. The constructs also include design elements for flexible exchange of any other TCR region and adaptor sequences that enable reconstructed TCRs to be shuttled into recipient T cells by different means.

This library enables rapid high-throughput reconstruction of large numbers of candidate TCRs specific for selected antigens and provides tools to reconstitute TCRs specific for mutations on a patient-individualized basis. Efficient reconstitution of many TCRs in parallel enables those sequences with the best functionality to be rapidly identified and selected for TCR-T cellular therapeutics.

CrossTAg-1 (EP3394247A1)
The European Patent Office intends to grant a European patent covering the CrossTAg-1 technology (patents covering this technology have also been granted in Japan, Australia and New Zealand last year, JP6676759, AU2016374873 and NZ741954).

This technology allows cross-presentation of antigens on both class I and II Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules (also called "Human Leukocyte Antigens", HLA, in humans) thereby stimulating both killer T cells and helper T cells, respectively. These major T cell subsets play key roles in immune responses, including those against cancer.

The CrossTAg-1 technology directs short peptides from an antigen to be effectively processed by cellular pathways for both class I and class II HLA presentation. Thus, Medigene also believes that using the CrossTAg technology could potentially improve T cell responses to mRNA-based vaccines.

CrossTAg-2 (US10,882,891)
The CrossTAg-2 patent now granted in the US (also granted in Japan, Australia and New Zealand last year, JP6697562, AU2016374874, NZ741955) covers the use of the CrossTAg technology in dendritic cells (DCs) and DC vaccines. The use of this technology ensures that, in addition to killer T cells, helper T cells are also effectively stimulated against specific targets allowing for the broadest immune activation.

Medigene Immunotherapies GmbH and the biomedical research center Helmholtz Zentrum München are co-applicants for the mentioned CrossTAg patents which fall under the main license agreement in place with Helmholtz Zentrum München.

Prof. Dolores J. Schendel, CEO/CSO of Medigene: "Medigene's growing patent estate reflects the wide applicability of its ongoing innovation and scientific excellence across the field of therapeutic T cells. Building the patent estate covering these technologies in key commercial markets is of core importance to protecting the value of our investments in innovation. We believe our technologies could provide important benefits to deal with the constant challenges facing clinical medicine in solid tumors and infectious diseases."