Anixa Biosciences announced that IP Australia has issued Patent Number 2020221280 covering its breast cancer vaccine technology, which is exclusively licensed from Cleveland Clinic. The composition-of-matter patent provides protection for Anixa’s approach to breast cancer prevention and treatment in Australia through 2040.

The patent, titled ‘Vaccine Adjuvants and Formulations,’ was co-invented by Dr. Justin Johnson and the late Dr. Vincent Tuohy, both of Cleveland Clinic. The company said the patent expands the international scope of its intellectual property portfolio and complements existing protection in the US and other international markets, including Europe, China and Japan.

According to Anixa, the expanded patent protection could support future regulatory development, strategic partnerships and potential commercialisation opportunities for its breast cancer vaccine technology.

The company’s vaccine programme is supported by data from a recently completed Phase 1 trial at Cleveland Clinic, funded by the US Department of Defense. The trial met its major primary endpoints and showed that the vaccine was safe and well tolerated. Protocol-defined immune responses were generated in more than 74 percent of participants, supporting further clinical development of the vaccine.

Dr Amit Kumar, Chairman and CEO, Anixa Biosciences, said, “This newly issued patent strengthens the global foundation we are building for our breast cancer vaccine. He added that the expanding international patent portfolio could support the company’s efforts to pursue global opportunities and potential partnerships for worldwide commercialisation.

Breast cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women worldwide. Despite advances in screening and treatment, there are currently no approved vaccines designed to prevent breast cancer.

Anixa’s vaccine technology is based on immunisation against human alpha-lactalbumin, a protein associated with lactation that is aberrantly expressed in certain types of breast cancer. The approach, developed at Cleveland Clinic and exclusively licensed to Anixa, is intended to prime the immune system against tumour formation while avoiding damage to normal tissue.

The company is developing the technology with a focus on aggressive forms of breast cancer, including triple-negative breast cancer. If successful in clinical development, the approach could represent a preventive vaccine strategy for breast cancer.

Anixa is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the treatment and prevention of cancer. Its therapeutic portfolio includes liraltagene autoleucel, or lira-cel, an ovarian cancer immunotherapy being developed in collaboration with Moffitt Cancer Center using Chimeric Endocrine Receptor-T cell (CER-T) technology.