Ultimovacs has received a Notice of Intention to Grant from the European Patent Office (EPO) concerning its European Patent application on the use of vaccine-checkpoint inhibitor combinations to treat cancer.

Subject to grant formalities including translations and fee disbursement, the European patent will issue with a patent term to June 2037. When granted, the European patent and its counterpart in the US add substantially to the strong intellectual property base Ultimovacs is building around UV1 combination therapies. Supplementary Patent Certificates around UV1-combination therapies have the potential to further extend protection beyond 2037, states the company.

Acknowledged by both the United States Patent and Trademark Office and now by the European Patent Office

The patent is the European counterpart of the US patent No. 11419927 which was granted in August 2022. The company has similar patent applications pending in other territories worldwide, including Japan, Canada and Australia. They cover synergistic cancer treatments that include the UV1 peptide vaccine in combination with an anti-CTLA-4, anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 antibody checkpoint inhibitor. The primary patents of many of the current CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors face expiry over the course of the next several years.

“We are pleased that the novelty and utility of Ultimovacs’ combination immunotherapies have been acknowledged by both the United States Patent and Trademark Office and now by the European Patent Office,” says Carlos de Sousa, Chief Executive Officer of Ultimovacs. “Ultimovacs continues to build substantial intellectual property around UV1-checkpoint inhibitor combinations while exploring the clinical value of the combinations across many cancers through an extensive Phase II clinical trial program.”

Photo of Carlos de Sousa: Ultimovacs