GPC Biotech Announces Issued Patent on Antibodies for Detecting p27 Cell Cycle Protein

18-Jul-2001

GPC Biotech (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: GPC) today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a patent claiming antibodies that are specifically immunoreactive with the p27 cell cycle inhibitory protein and a prognostic kit for detecting the p27 protein levels in cancer cells (U.S. Patent No. 6,242,575). GPC Biotech is pursuing R&D activities on the therapeutic applications of the p27 gene and protein, and will seek a diagnostic partner to develop and market the prognostic applications. The patent was issued to the Memorial Sloan Kettering and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, from whom GPC Biotech has an exclusive, world-wide license for the therapeutic and diagnostic applications.

GPC Biotech, its academic collaborators and other institutions have reported that a reduced level of the p27 protein has been strongly correlated with poor disease outcome for patients with different cancers, including breast, colon, prostate, lung and esophageal cancer. Most importantly, these studies, each using immunohistochemistry (IHC) with a p27 antibody, strongly suggest that p27 is an independent prognostic factor for predicting disease outcome and that a p27 prognostic may be useful across a number of leading cancer types. Further development of a p27 IHC prognostic test is important since existing cancer molecular markers often are useful on specific cancer types only and most are not independent indicators of disease progression, especially when attempting to predict prognosis at the earliest stages of cancer.

"Knowing and understanding changes in expression of cell cycle regulators such as p27 may enable oncologists to determine the aggressiveness of the tumor, possible response to therapy and the outlook for survival of the cancer patient. The potential clinical implication of such a p27 prognostic test is that it may be possible to more accurately define subgroups of patients who may benefit from a more aggressive treatment from groups where this may be unnecessary," said Muzammil M. Mansuri, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Boston of GPC Biotech. "This patent expands GPC Biotech's unique patent position in the cell cycle area."

In addition to the newly issued US patent on p27 antibodies announced today, GPC Biotech also has exclusive worldwide license to additional patents and patent applications covering other aspects of p27.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/3951/gpc-biotech-announces-issued-patent-on-antibodies-for-detecting-p27-cell-cycle-protein.html