Shield Therapeutics granted further IP protection

Specialty pharmaceutical company Shield Therapeutics announced an intellectual property update on Monday, including that IP Australia had granted a composition of matter patent protecting the active substance of Feraccru - the company's lead product for the treatment of iron deficiency anaemia - to late October 2035 in Australia.

The AIM-traded firm said the Australian patent, entitled "Crystalline Forms of Ferric Maltol", was granted utilising an expedited examination under the Global Patent Prosecution Highway program, based on the UK patent "Polymorphs of Ferric Maltol" granted by the UK Intellectual Property Office in September 2016, protecting the active substance of Feraccru through to October 2034 in the UK.

It said the GPPH procedure was also being employed in the United States and Canada and, in addition, the company has a patent application entitled "Crystalline Forms of Ferric Maltol" pending before the European Patent Office which, if granted, would protect the active substance of Feraccru Europe-wide until October 2035.

Following International Preliminary Examination, the EPO considered the pending claims in Europe to be both novel and inventive.

“This grant from IP Australia has commenced the expected expansion of territories benefitting from the significant composition of matter IP we first attained for Feraccru from the UKIPO in September 2016,” said Shield founder and CEO Carl Sterritt.

“With our application progressing well with the EPO to cover Europe and with the GPPH procedure being utilized in the United States and Canada, we are confident that in the coming months Feraccru will benefit from this enhanced breadth and duration of IP protection across an ever broader range of geographies.

“Commercially, we are continuing to see encouraging signals of demand from prescribers for Feraccru and we believe the company remains in a strong position to capitalise on this interest and deliver growth and value to our shareholders.”