The Norwegian oncology biopharmaceutical company has announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued United States Patent 8,735,064 covering a method for creating and identifying functional interference RNA (RNAi) molecules.
RNAis are recombinant nucleic acid molecules that have the ability to specifically down-regulate an expressed target gene in vivo. This patent protects BerGenBio’s CellSelect(TM) platform technology from which the company has built up its internal pipeline of novel cancer targets and therapeutics. CellSelect(TM) uses RNAi to identify novel targets by regulating the gene expression of all the potential drug targets in phenotypic screens. Hits are then validated within the CellSelect(TM) suite of technologies.
“This patent is a cornerstone in the protection of our novel technology platform, which is the discovery engine of BerGenBio’s pipeline. We continue to use CellSelect(TM) to identify and validate new drug targets for our own pipeline and in partnership with others. CellSelect(TM) was instrumental in elucidating the role of Axl kinase in promoting cancer invasion and drug resistance. Axl kinase is the target of BGB324 – the Company’s lead program currently in clinical
development. The interest in novel drug targets from the pharmaceutical industry has ebbed and flowed over time, but remains essential to better address unmet or poorly met medical needs. Using CellSelect(TM) we have discovered novel targets with previously unappreciated roles in disease progression,” Richard Godfrey, CEO of BerGenBio.
