SAN FRANCISCO, June 17, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ProLynx LLC, a biotechnology company focused on development of disruptive drug delivery systems for half-life extension of injectable drugs, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued US Patent 8,754,190 entitled "Controlled Release from Macromolecular Conjugates".
This is the third US Patent issued to ProLynx covering our beta-eliminative linkers and controlled release drug conjugates. Importantly, it is the first issued patent to specifically claim our lead oncology product, PEGylated SN38 (PL0264). SN38 is the active metabolite of the widely used anti-cancer agent irinotecan. As reported in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (J. Med. Chem. 2014, 57, 2303-2314) the ProLynx PEG-SN38 conjugate continuously releases low levels of SN38 with an effective half-life of about two weeks. In addition to its greatly increased half-life and low Cmax, very little of the SN38 released from the conjugate enters the liver or consequently the intestine, and thus our PEG-SN38 conjugate uniquely avoids the intestinal toxicity seen with administration of the parent drug irinotecan.
"ProLynx has a Japanese partner who is rapidly advancing PL0264 into human clinical trials – expected to begin in late 2014 or early 2015," said Founder and President Daniel V. Santi, M.D., Ph.D. "We are actively seeking development and commercialization partners in the US and rest of world. Having issued composition of matter claims in the US on the clinical candidate is an important milestone for these business discussions."
About ProLynx LLC
ProLynx LLC is a privately held biotechnology company developing proprietary drug delivery systems (DDS) for half-life extension of proteins, peptides and small molecules. The company is seeking to apply its DDS to extend half-lives of drugs and drug candidates of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. ProLynx is also seeking to out-license the long lasting drug conjugates in its pre-clinical product portfolio. The company is located in San Francisco, CA. Further information about the company and its capabilities may be found online at http://www.prolynxllc.com.