European Patent Office-approved EP 2958588 covers the composition of matter and methods of treatment for a vaccine and inhibitor combinations, made up of an mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccine and an anti-PD-1 (programmed cell death protein) antibody.
Disease-fighting proteins
CureVac’s Franz-Werner Haas said the combined approach – which harnesses mRNA to instruct the body to produce its own disease-fighting proteins - can be used to treat a variety of oncology diseases.
“We are convinced there is tremendous potential in combining mRNA-based vaccines with PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of a wide range of cancers and infectious diseases.”
“Anti-PD-1 antibody therapy is becoming standard of care in several cancer indications, and combination approaches are now recognized as optimal for the development of mRNA cancer vaccines,” he said.
Cancer treatment
A CureVac spokesperson told Biopharma-Reporter the patent is an important step in the future of cancer treatment.
“Since anti-PD-1 antibodies are to become a mainstay of cancer immunotherapy, this patent will allow CureVac to combine with current or future standard of care cancer treatments which are or will be a backbone of the overall cancer treatment strategy,” the spokesperson said.
IP portfolio
The Tübingen, Germany-headquartered firm said the patent is part of its background IP for different pipeline projects, which it is looking to develop.
“We are planning to extend our IP portfolio regarding the combination of our mRNA-based vaccines and checkpoint inhibitors,” the spokesperson said.