Gliknik Announces Issuance of U.S. Patent for Use of Recombinant IVIG Mimetics

BALTIMORE, April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Gliknik Inc. today announced that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) has issued U.S. Patent 9,926,362, which claims methods of using compounds that have utility as recombinant mimetics of pooled human intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). The patent, which issued jointly to Gliknik Inc. and to the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), encompasses the uses of trimers, tetramers, pentamers, hexamers, and many other structures containing two or more human IgG1 Fc domains and binding multiple low affinity Fc gamma receptors (FcγRs).

"We are pleased to have the U.S. PTO recognize the novelty of methods we describe for using a range of recombinant compounds to bind multiple low affinity FcγRs on effector cells," said Henrik Olsen, PhD, Gliknik Vice President of Drug Discovery. "We believe that such compounds will progress through clinical trials successfully and may expand the marketplace choices for patients with autoimmune diseases."

James L. Hughes, Chief Enterprise and Economic Development Officer and Vice President at UMB, added, "We are proud of this patent issuance and look forward to the potential for a marketed recombinant IVIG product that will increase options for patients. We congratulate Gliknik for successfully leading the prosecution of this patent application on behalf of Gliknik and UMB."

About IVIG

IVIG is the general name for a blood product pooled from tens of thousands of donors, mixed, separated, and highly purified to minimize viruses, prion disease, and other undesirable contaminants. IVIG is safe and effective when used to treat numerous autoimmune diseases and immune deficiency diseases. IVIG sales are approaching $10 billion annually. The worldwide supply of IVIG, which is commercialized as many brands by a number of companies, is exhausted each year since supply is limited by the number of blood donors. Therefore, there is a pressing need for a recombinant equivalent.

About Gliknik

Gliknik is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with expertise in modulation of the immune system to fight disease. The company's programs are designed to address unmet needs in tumor immunology and autoimmune diseases. The Gliknik mission is to discover and develop truly innovative biologics for people living with cancer and immune disorders. Learn more at www.gliknik.com.

About University of Maryland, Baltimore

UMB, an institution of the University System of Maryland, is Maryland's only public health, law, and human services university. Six professional schools and a Graduate School confer the majority of health care, human services, and law professional degrees in Maryland each year.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" concerning the development and commercialization of Gliknik products, the potential benefits and attributes of such products, and Gliknik expectations regarding its prospects. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual future events or results to differ materially from such statements. These statements are made as of the date of this press release. Actual results may vary. Gliknik undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements for any reason.

SOURCE Gliknik Inc.

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