Filing of further Nuvec® patent application

15 November 2018

N4 Pharma Plc

("N4 Pharma" or the "Company")

Filing of further Nuvec® patent application

N4 Pharma Plc (AIM: N4P), the specialist pharmaceutical company developing a novel delivery system for vaccines and cancer treatments, is pleased to announce the filing of its Patent Cooperation Treaty ("PCT") patent application for its novel delivery system, Nuvec®.

Nuvec® is licensed by the Company from the University of Queensland under their silica nanoparticle patent application, which is currently under prosecution before various national patent offices.  The patent application that was filed by the Company is based on improvements made to the manufacturing process, as the Company has scaled up production alongside specific examples of how Nuvec® can be used to improve delivery of nucleic acids.

The Company's new PCT patent application claims priority from the Company's United Kingdom patent application number 1718817.8. The PCT application will publish approximately 18 months from the priority date of 14 November 2017.  Therefore publication is expected on or shortly after 14 May 2019. National phase entry is due 30 months from the priority date, in most countries. The national phasing deadline is therefore expected to be 14 May 2020. 

Nigel Theobald, CEO of N4 Pharma commented:

"Having strong intellectual property for Nuvec® is important for commercial outlicensing and this new PCT patent application not only strengthens the intellectual property rights around Nuvec® but, if granted, would provide an extra 30 months protection for Nuvec® after expiry of the in licensed IP which, if granted, would likely expire in April 2036.

"As our work on Nuvec® progresses,we anticipate that subsequent patent applications will be filed to extend the protection for Nuvec® even further."

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About N4 Pharma

N4 Pharma is a specialist pharmaceutical company developing a novel delivery system for vaccines and cancer treatments using its unique silica nanoparticle delivery system called Nuvec®

Nuvec® has shown to be capable of loading and delivering mRNA and pDNA into cells to the required level needed to generate an immune response. Further work will be undertaken for the direct loading and delivery of peptides and proteins using Nuvec®.

N4 Pharma's business model is to partner with companies developing novel antigens for vaccines and cancer treatments to use Nuvec® as the delivery vehicle to get their antigen into cells to express the protein needed for the required immune response. As these products progress through pre clinical and clinical programs N4 will receive up front and milestone payments and ultimately royalty payments once products reach the market.