MMRF News
MMRGlobal to File Anti-CD20 Antibody and B-Cell Vaccine Patents Targeting Cancers
2012-07-27 08:35 ET - News Release
LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 07/27/12
MMRGlobal, Inc. ( www.mmrglobal.com ) (OTCBB: MMRF) ("MMR") today announced that it is filing two additional divisional patent applications that are intended to allow for further protection of the Company's specific antibodies that have particular utility in fighting cancers based on the recent award of the first patent for the Company's anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody in Mexico. Issued under the title, "Antibodies and Methods for Making and Using Them," the patents for the Company's antibodies are also pending in additional countries including the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Europe, Japan and Korea. The anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies are considered extremely valuable assets of the Company based on the commercial value and benefits demonstrated by Rituxan®, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody with reported sales of $7.1 billion in 2011, which is due to go off patent in 2015.
MMRGlobal's biotech patents also include the B-Cell vaccine patents entitled "Method and Composition for Altering a B Cell Mediated Pathology," which relate to methods of manufacturing compositions for B-cell vaccines used in the fight against lymphoma and potentially other forms of cancer. An additional manufacturing divisional patent application is being filed with the Mexican Industrial Property Institute to further enhance the protection of the manufacturing patents already issued in various countries, including the U.S. The Company continues its pursuit of robust patent protection around the world in various countries of commercial interest.
The Company acquired its biotechnology portfolio as a result of MMR's reverse merger with Favrille, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, in January 2009. Favrille invested more than $140 million in research and development on its FavId? vaccine trials and use of customized tumor cells to treat lymphoma patients and other technologies. MMR has continued to make progress in protecting the Company's IP, including its anti-CD20 antibodies and B-Cell vaccines.
Although MMRGlobal will continue working to license and otherwise exploit an extensive portfolio of biotech assets, including its anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies, data from vaccine trials, thousands of patient tumor samples and other intellectual property including numerous worldwide patents in various stages, it remains focused on its primary health IT business. The Company has numerous patents issued or pending relating to providing online medical and personal health records in more than 13 countries of interest and has over 186 additional claims either pending or published related to health information technology in the U.S. and other parts of the world.
