June 24, 2013 LONDON, ONTARIO (Marketwire - June 24, 2013) - Sernova Corp. (TSX-V: SVA), today announced that the Australian Patent Office has issued a Notice of Patent Allowance to Sernova for a patent entitled "Adult sertoli cells and uses thereof".
Importantly, sertoli cells provide an immune privileged environment to protect donor therapeutic cells from immune system attack. When transplanted into Sernova's Cell Pouch(TM) with therapeutic cells, a safe, protected and efficacious environment is provided for therapeutic cells such as insulin-producing islets for the treatment of diabetes. The allowance of this patent will provide Sernova with patent protection through 2027 and similar patent applications have been filed in multiple countries around the world.
"The patent allowance strengthens Sernova's broad patent portfolio related to immune protection of therapeutic cells," stated Dr. Philip Toleikis, Sernova's President and CEO. "We believe the Cell Pouch(TM), proven to provide an ideal non-inflammatory, biocompatible environment, rich in matrix and microvessels for therapeutic cells, combined with sertoli local immune protection, provides the best combination of cell-based technologies to treat chronic diseases without the need for continuous anti-rejection drugs." Toleikis continued, "This strengthened patent portfolio has enabled us to expand our partnering and development opportunities as we continue to advance our Cell Pouch System(TM)."
Sernova has presented evidence at leading scientific conferences demonstrating that the Cell Pouch(TM) can be used as a safe and effective platform for the delivery of insulin from both autograft (self) and allograft (donor) islets to restore glucose control in stringent preclinical models of diabetes using the product scaled for humans. Sernova is currently evaluating the safety and efficacy of the Cell Pouch(TM) in humans in the first study of its kind in the world at the University of Alberta with Dr. James Shapiro as the principal investigator.
As the Company progresses, Sernova plans to explore the additional utility of the Cell Pouch(TM) as an enabling platform for a range of therapeutic cell types with the potential to treat multiple chronic debilitating diseases with broad unmet medical need.
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