Arno Therapeutics Inc (OTCMKTS:ARNI) a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company announced that it obtained Notice of Allowance from the USPTO for two filed patent applications linked to its main oncology product candidate, named as ‘onapristone.’
The first patent is about onapristone polymorph structures and means of use, while the second patent comprises diagnostic systems and methods for treating and identifying anti-progestin sensitive tumors. Together, the patents support the intellectual property shielding onapristone.
The expert view
Alex Zukiwski, MD, the Chief Executive of Arno Therapeutics, said that the two patents are vital for the protection of drug candidate onapristone, as company continue advancing its research through two clinical studies, a Phase 2 trial in women with recurrent or metastatic endometrioid tumors that express APR, and a separate Phase 1/2 clinical study in men suffering with castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Both the studies are in enrollment phase. By shielding the polymorph forms and means of use of the diagnostic measures as well as drug for treating and identifying anti-progestin sensitive tumors, the company now has better control over the prospect of this potential and unique vital new hormonal treatment.
The drug
Arno’s Onapristone can be defined as an oral and anti-progestin hormone blocker. It has demonstrated in previous Phase 2 clinical studies considerable anti-tumor activity in women suffering with breast cancer. In pre-clinical studies, onapristone has proved to block the activation of PR which is assumed as a process that inhibits the enlargement of APR driven breast, and other gynecological tumors. The study was not sponsored by Arno.
In last trading session, the stock price of ARNI surged more than 18% to close the trading session at $0.940. The gain came at a share volume of 1.41 million compared to average share volume of 131,565. The high for the day was $1 while low was $0.71.
