EIP Pharma announces issuance of multiple new patents covering VX-745, a selective p38 MAP kinase alpha inhibitor for Alzheimer's disease and ischemic stroke recovery

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- EIP Pharma, LLC (www.eippharma.com) today announced that the U.S. Patent Office issued on August 30, 2016 the following two patents:

• U.S. Patent No. 9,427,438, entitled "Compositions and methods for treating Alzheimer's disease".  The '438 patent claims administration of VX-745 to treat patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
• U.S.  Patent No. 9,427,439, entitled "Methods and compositions for recovery from stroke".  The '439 patent claims administration of VX-745 to promote recovery of function in subjects that have suffered a neurologic injury, including specifically injury that results from an acute ischemic stroke. 

U.S. Patent No. 8,697,627, with claims directed towards administration of VX-745 to reduce brain amyloid plaque load, was issued to EIP Pharma in 2014.  Patents with similar claims recently issued in Europe (EP 2707369) and in Japan (No. 5851022).

"These newly issued patents provide a strong proprietary position for VX-745 in each of Alzheimer's disease and Stroke recovery that will last well into the 2030s," said John Alam, MD, founder and CEO of EIP Pharma. 

About VX-745 and p38 MAPK alpha
VX-745 is a brain-penetrant investigational drug that inhibits the intra-cellular enzyme p38 mitogen activated protein kinase alpha (MAPKa); and is currently in phase 2 clinical studies in patients with early Alzheimer's disease.

In the healthy brain, p38 MAPKa regulates inflammation through effects on immune cells.  In conditions of stress and disease, p38 MAPKa is also expressed in neurons; where it plays a major role in inflammation and/or amyloid beta induced synaptic toxicity.

About EIP Pharma
EIP Pharma, LLC (www.eippharma.com) is a private R&D stage CNS-focused therapeutics company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

References

1. Alam JJ (2015).  Selective brain-targeted antagonism of p38 MAPKa reduces hippocampal IL-1 beta levels and improves Morris-Water-Maze Performance in Aged Rats.   Journal of Alzheimers Disease 48:219-27
2. Alam J, Krakovsky M, Lamensdorf I, Levy A. P38 Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase alpha (MAPKα) Inhibition to Promote Neurologic Recovery in Rat Stroke Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion (t-MCAO) Model.  Neurology April 5, 2016 vol. 86 no. 16 Supplement P5.228

SOURCE EIP Pharma, LLC