U.S. Patent Office Reaffirms PharmaStem Patent

PharmaStem Therapeutics, Inc. has announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a ruling confirming the validity of PharmaStem Therapeutics, Inc.'s patent about the Isolation and Preservation of Fetal and Neonatal Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells of the Blood and Methods of Therapeutic Use.

The Patent Office has issued a Notice of Intent to Issue a Reexamination Certificate after re-evaluating PharmaStem's U.S. Patent No. 5,192,553, thus terminating the re-examination proceeding.

In its Decision the U.S. Patent Office stated that "the Prior art rejections of record have been withdrawn ... The primary references in these rejections Douay, Koike, Ende, Knudtzon, do not teach or suggest that cryopreserved fetal stem cells would obtain hematopoietic reconstitution of a human..."

“I am gratified by this Decision by which the Patent Office confirms again the pioneering contributions of PharmaStem in the development of umbilical cord blood preservation and its therapeutic use,” said Nicholas Didier, CEO and President of PharmaStem.

PharmaStem is the successor to Biocyte Corporation, and the pioneer in the development of umbilical cord blood preservation and its therapeutic use. Umbilical cord and placental blood are rich in stem cells that can reconstitute human blood and immune systems.