4SC Strengthens Patent Protection for its Epigenetic Cancer Drug Candidate 4SC-202
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4SC AG has announced that it has further strengthened the patent protection for its epigenetic anti-cancer compound 4SC-202 - a selective inhibitor of LSD1 and HDACs 1, 2, and 3 - in China.
The Chinese Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) has granted a patent relating to the tosylate salt of the compound. As this salt has been used in the clinical trials with 4SC-202, this patent provides a further building block in 4SC's global protection strategy for the drug candidate.
The patents for 4SC-202 tosylate salt will provide additional protection against potential competitors and thus complements the composition of matter patents for 4SC-202, which so far have been granted in 61 countries, including patents in the major markets USA, Europe, China, Japan, Russia, and India.
Enno Spillner, Chief Executive Officer of 4SC AG, said: "Strengthening patent protection for our innovative anti-cancer compound 4SC-202 in the attractive upcoming growth market China underscores the development strategy for 4SC-202. We thus further strengthen our position as a leading biotech company in epigenetic cancer therapies."
Enno Spillner continued: "Alongside our lead oncology compound resminostat, 4SC-202 is the second promising epigenetic anti-cancer agent in our clinical pipeline. We see strong standalone potential for 4SC-202 due to its unique mechanism of action. We are currently in talks with potential partners evaluating Phase II development options for 4SC-202. We look in particular at tumour indications, whose development and progression depend heavily on the therapeutically interesting Hedgehog and Wnt signalling pathways, which are epigenetically modulated by 4SC-202."
China, according to market intelligence experts, is the world's second-largest market for pharmaceuticals behind the USA. Analysts from IMS Health have forecast strong annual growth of between 10% and 13% for the sector in China for the upcoming years, expecting a total volume of USD 155-185 in 2018.
The oncology market in Asia will see particularly strong growth and therefore become increasingly important for the development and marketing of innovative cancer drugs such as 4SC-202. Nearly half of all new cancer cases worldwide occur in Asia already.
