Advanced Life Sciences Announces Issuance of
Patent for
Anti-Viral Compounds
Woodridge, Ill, August 7, 2002 - Advanced Life Sciences, Inc.
announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued
a broad patent to the company on June 4, 2002. Patent No. 6399654
(Biflavanoids and derivatives thereof as antiviral agents) bolsters
the Company's proprietary position in biflavanoids as potential
anti-viral drugs.
The biflavanoids are a class of compounds, derived from natural
products, which have demonstrated in vitro biological activity
in Hepatitis B (HBV) and other viral diseases. Hepatitis B is
one of the most common and serious infections in the world, with
an estimated 350 million people that are chronic carriers. It
is estimated that 5% of the world population is infected with
HBV and that the virus causes 1 million deaths per year. In the
US 300,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. The standard treatment
regimen of infectious diseases such as HBV is a combination therapy
in which two or more drugs, that act synergistically, are administered
to infected patients. These so called "drug cocktails"
work together to reduce the viral load helping to suppress the
disease.
Advanced Life Sciences' lead compound from the biflavanoid class
is ALS-920. This compound is believed to be the first non-nucleoside
compound active against HBV. ALS-920 acts synergistically with
other nucleoside analogues in combination therapy and inhibits
the DNA polymerase enzyme.
The Advanced Life Sciences' biflavanoid patents cover unique combinations
with other anti-viral drugs. This patent supplements Advanced
Life Sciences biflavanoid patent estate, which includes patent
5773462, claiming novel pharmaceutical compositions including
robustaflavones and patents 5948918 and 6225481, which claim improvements
in the manufacture of these compounds.
"This broad patent coverage adds to Advanced Life Sciences'
product portfolio in infectious diseases," stated Dr. Michael
Flavin, CEO of Advanced Life Sciences. "Issuance of this
biflavanoid patent further validates our expertise in our mission
to discover and develop anti-viral agents to fight infectious
diseases such as HBV."
Advanced Life Sciences (www.advancedlifesciences.com) based in
Woodridge, Illinois, is a privately held drug development company
that discovers and develops therapeutic compounds to fight infection,
inflammation and cancer. The Company facilitates the drug development
process between discovery and pharmaceutical commercialization,
and focuses on diseases that have significant unmet medical needs
in important markets.
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