BioLineRx Announces Receipt of a Notice of Allowance from USPTO for BL-8020
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BioLineRx Ltd. has announced that a Notice of Allowance has been issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for BL-8020, an orally available, interferon-free treatment for hepatitis C.
The patent covers the use of BL-8020 for treating HCV-infected patients non-responsive to an anti-HCV therapy (patients who failed to achieve a sustained virologic response following treatment). The patent will be valid until at least 2031.
"We are very pleased to have received a Notice of Allowance from the USPTO for the BL-8020 patent. This is an important milestone in the development of this promising drug candidate," stated Dr. Kinneret Savitsky, Chief Executive Officer of BioLineRx.
Dr. Savitsky continued, "HCV induces a chronic infection in more than half of individuals infected with the disease and, depending on the virus genotype, as few as 60% completely recover. In addition, current standard-of-care treatments are lengthy and not well tolerated. As a result, there is a clear need for therapeutics that can increase the effectiveness of existing treatments, especially in patients who have already undergone treatment, but have failed to respond or have relapsed. Based on its pre-clinical results, unique mechanism of action and synergistic effect with other anti-HCV compounds, we are very hopeful that BL-8020 will enhance the effectiveness of other available hepatitis C treatments, thereby significantly improving hepatitis C care. We look forward to the partial results from the Phase 1/2 trial expected towards the beginning of 2014."
BioLineRx is currently conducting a Phase 1/2, open-label study at two sites in France to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of BL-8020 in patients infected with HCV.
The study will include up to 32 HCV-infected patients of any genotype who have previously failed or relapsed following treatment with the standard-of-care.
BL-8020 is a proprietary oral, fixed-dose combination treatment composed of Ribavirin and Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ).
The primary endpoint of the study is to evaluate the effect of a 16-week combination therapy with Ribavirin and HCQ.
The study is specifically designed to allow intra-subject analysis, in order to determine the extent to which HCQ enhances Ribavirin's antiviral activity.
