iBio IP Expanded by New iBioLaunch™ Dual Vector Patent Allowance

NEWARK, Del., Aug. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- iBio, Inc. (NYSE MKT: IBIO) announced today that the US Patent and Trademark Office has allowed patent application 13/243,796 entitled "System for Expression of Genes in Plants." This invention is a part of iBio's patented iBioLaunch™ technology platform that causes common green plants to produce commercial quantities of targeted human proteins in proper form for use as active pharmaceutical ingredients and enables nuanced control of the production process.

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iBio's previously issued patents include claims that protect proprietary product compositions as well as methods to produce commercially important categories of protein therapeutics and vaccines including multimeric proteins such as antibodies. These newly allowed claims extend iBio's exclusivity for a dual vector system that enables the expression and use of additional proteins or nucleic acids to modify the functional properties of targeted proteins.  For example, this technology can be used to modify the glycosylation patterns of proteins produced for therapeutic use or to suppress the function of undesirable plant enzymes that interfere with the yield or stability of a target protein for use as an active pharmaceutical ingredient.

Within the scope of this invention, both active RNA species (such as ribozymes and interfering RNAs) and enzymes (such as kinases, hydrolases, and transferases) may be produced during commercial manufacturing to control plant genes to produce a product with desirable biochemical properties. This system enables more precise control of the structure and function of the target protein.  These important new claims broaden the range of product features and production efficiencies the iBioLaunch platform can deliver under patent protection.

Of further value, these allowed claims extend exclusivity protection for the use of the iBioLaunch platform to produce certain valuable non-protein small molecules such as terpenes and polyketides. The invention was developed by scientists at the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology, iBio's research collaborator.

Human clinical trials of product candidates produced with iBio's technology have been funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Additional product candidates sponsored by collaborators are the subject of INDs currently in preparation. iBio offers royalty-bearing licenses of iBioLaunch technology for development of licensee's products and also advances its own product candidates for eventual partnership with other commercial partners.

About iBio, Inc.

iBio develops and offers product applications of its iBioLaunch and iBioModulator™ platforms, providing collaborators full support for turn-key implementation of its technology for both proprietary and biosimilar products. Additionally, iBio is developing select product candidates that have been derived from the iBioLaunch platform.  The iBioLaunch platform is a proprietary, transformative technology for development and production of biologics using transient gene expression in unmodified green plants.  The iBioModulator platform is complementary to the iBioLaunch platform and is designed to significantly improve vaccine products with both higher potency and greater duration of effect.  The iBioModulator platform can be used with any recombinant expression technology for vaccine development and production. Further information is available at: www.ibioinc.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

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Contact

Robert Erwin,
President
302-355-2335
[email protected] 

SOURCE iBio, Inc.