Lpath Granted Key US Patent Related To Ocular Drug Program ISONEP

(RTTNews) - Lpath Inc. (LPTN), a biotechnology company focused on bioactive lipid-targeted therapeutics, Wednesday said it has received official notification from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that the company has been issued another key patent supporting its iSONEP program.

In pre-market activity, Lpath shares gained $0.40 or 7.94 percent, and traded at $5.44.

In its statement, the company noted that the newly issued U.S. patent, No. 8,614,103, is entitled, "Compositions and Methods for Treating Ocular Conditions." It claims methods of using monoclonal antibodies, including iSONEP, that bind sphingosine-1-phosphate in the treatment of a wide variety of ocular conditions, including wet age-related macular degeneration.

Roger Sabbadini, Lpath's vice president, founder, and an inventor of the issued patent, said, "This patent adds additional coverage in the U.S. for use of our anti-S1P antibodies in the treatment of a wide range of ocular disorders and complements another recently issued patent (US 8,444,970) and certain patent claims we have been granted in Europe (European patent No. 1 948 234) for wet AMD, cancer, and other conditions."

Lpath noted that it is conducting a Phase 2 clinical trial for iSONEP, the Nexus trial, which is evaluating the anti-S1P antibody's safety and efficacy in wet-AMD patients that have not responded well to existing anti-VEGF therapies including Lucentis, Avastin and Eylea.

Lpath entered into an agreement with Pfizer (PFE) in 2010 that provides Pfizer an exclusive option for a worldwide license to develop and commercialize iSONEP.