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MediGene: European Patent Office decides to grant new European Patent for Veregen®


WEBWIRE

Martinsried/Munich, MediGene AG (Frankfurt, Prime Standard: MDG) announced today that the European Patent Office has decided to grant a further patent on Veregen® (Polyphenon E® Ointment). The patent covers the application of Veregen® in the treatment of skin and tumor diseases induced by papilloma viruses.

Up to now, patent protection for Veregen® was limited to the application of tea catechins for the production of a drug for the treatment of tissue infected by human papilloma viruses. This comprehensive patent was filed by the Cancer Institute Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Japanese company Mitsui Norin, and licensed exclusively by MediGene.

The new European patent (EP 1448186) affords additional patent protection through the end of 2022, and also has the possibility of term extension.

Dr. Peter Heinrich, MediGene’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “With this additional patent Veregen® ointment is now protected by two independent families of patents. We are now fully prepared for the next steps with Veregen®, notably its planned European commercialization.”

About Veregen®: Veregen® (for the treatment of genital warts) contains a concentrate of catechins, with a defined composition, extracted from green tea leaves. MediGene acquired the basic rights to the active substance from the Canadian company Epitome Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in 1999, and was solely responsible for the drug’s preclinical and clinical development, as well as for the approval process. Moreover the patent protection was further upgraded by a number of proprietary inventions. The catechin extract is manufactured by the Japanese company Mitsui Norin Co., Ltd., and the drug’s development name was Polyphenon E® Ointment. Veregen® has been available on the US market since the end of 2007, distributed by MediGene’s licensee Nycomed USA, and a marketing authorization application for three European countries has been submitted via the decentralized procedure. Approval is expected within the next few months.

This press release contains forward-looking statements representing the opinion of MediGene as of the date of this release. The actual results achieved by MediGene may differ significantly from the statements made herein. MediGene is not bound to update any of these forward-looking statements. MediGene® and Veregen® are registered trademarks of MediGene AG. Polyphenon E® is a registered trademark of Mitsui Norin Co., Ltd. This trademarks may be owned or licensed in select locations only.

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MediGene AG is a publicly listed (Frankfurt, Prime Standard: MDG) biotechnology company located in Martinsried/Munich, Germany, with subsidiaries in Oxford, UK and San Diego, USA. MediGene is the first German biotech company to have drugs on the market, which are being distributed by partner companies. MediGene has several drug candidates in clinical development, two of which providing a very high sales potential. In addition, the company has numerous projects in research and pre-clinical development and possesses innovative platform technologies. MediGene focuses on the research and development of novel drugs for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases.



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