IP Portfolio
The company’s initial focus was on the use of targeted-liposome based structures for the treatment of cancer and subsequent development programs now include other (non-liposome-based) immunotherapies. The development of innovative approaches to deliver antigens, either as recombinant proteins or as part of liposomal structures, has so far centred on the use of the molecule 3NTA (3-nitrilotriacetic acid) as a way to link those antigens to specific dendritic cell-targeting molecules.
Two international patents relating to the 3NTA technology, which forms the building block of Lipotek platform technologies are registered in the name of the company and one patent is exclusively licensed to Lipotek from the Australian National University.
- Australian Patent Application No. 2007200970, ‘Model Membrane Systems’, covers the use of the 3NTA lipid to engraft polyhistidine-tagged proteins to the surface of liposomes used to target molecules incorporated in the liposomes to specific cell types in vivo.
- Australian Patent Application No. 2004266034 (PCT Number PCT/AU2004/001125 and WIPO Number WO2005/018610), ‘In Vivo Targeting of Dendritic Cells’ specifically covers the preparation and use of dendritic cell targeting liposomes as vaccine constructs.
- Australian Patent Application No. 2006209809 ‘Adjuvanting material’ (PCT/AU2006/000147) covers intellectual property relating to the use of a novel construct, referred to as ‘Lipokel’, which enables the targeting of histidine-tagged proteins to dendritic cells while at the same time inducing maturation of the targeted dendritic cells.
- The company is continuing to expand its portfolio of intellectual property relating to vaccine delivery systems with a fourth patent application being prepared for an alternative, newly developed and significant novel platform vaccine technology.
