LONDON (Alliance News) - PureTech Health PLC said Tuesday affiliate Vedanta Biosciences has had its "foundational" patent upheld by the European Patent Office.
PureTech Health, which develops medicines for dysfunctions in the brain-immune-gut axis, said the decision "strengthens Vedanta's intellectual property position in a key area of microbiome therapeutics".
The patent covers compositions of clostridial bacterial species for use in infectious and allergic disease, based on the work of Vedanta co-founder Kenya Honda.
The patent is exclusively licensed to Vedanta, through the University of Tokyo, and provides coverage through 2031.
"In an emerging field as novel as microbiome therapies, capturing the value of groundbreaking discoveries is crucial to build a long-term foundation for intellectual property leadership. Vedanta has always ensured its broad platform for therapeutic discovery and development has been supported by a strategic and comprehensive intellectual property portfolio, so this decision reflects both that long-term strategy and the truly novel contributions of Honda," said PureTech President & Chief of Business & Strategy Bharatt Chowrira.
PureTech said the patent was opposed by six parties: Seres Therapeutics Inc, Nestec SA, a subsidiary of Nestle SA, and four anonymous parties.
The patent is now issued in the US, Japan and Europe.
Shares in PureTech Health were down 1.3% Tuesday at 195.50 pence each.
PureTech (PRTC)