On June 22, 2021 Bio-Path Holdings, Inc., (NASDAQ:BPTH), a biotechnology company leveraging its proprietary DNAbilize liposomal delivery and antisense technology to develop a portfolio of targeted nucleic acid cancer drugs, reported that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted a new patent relating to the Company’s BP1003 program, a novel liposome-incorporated oligodeoxynucleotide inhibitor against Signal Transduction and Activator of Transcription-3 (STAT3). The patent (U.S. Patent No. 11,041,153) is titled "P-Ethoxy Nucleic Acids for STAT3 Inhibition (Press release, Bio-Path Holdings, JUN 22, 2021, View Source [SID1234584220])."
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The new patent builds on earlier patents that have been granted that protect the platform technology for DNAbilize, the Company’s novel RNAi nanoparticle drugs. DNAbilize is a proprietary liposomal nanoparticle delivery and antisense technology designed to systemically distribute nucleic acid drugs throughout the human body with a simple intravenous transfusion.
"Our growing intellectual property portfolio continues to be a meaningful asset for Bio-Path and the addition of this new patent further strengthens our value as we advance our newest pipeline product, BP1003," said Peter Nielsen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bio-Path Holdings. "This mechanistic patent protects our position and underscores the novelty of BP1003’s ability to inhibit STAT3, a protein known to be overly expressed in a number of the most difficult to treat cancers such as pancreatic cancer (PDAC), non-small cell lung cancer (NSLCL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), among others. We are looking forward to advancing BP1003’s development in pancreatic cancer, which we expect to begin next year."
About Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3)
STAT3 is aberrantly active in cancer cells. The abilities of tumor cells to proliferate uncontrollably, resist apoptosis, induce vasculature formation, and invade distant organs are well-recognized hallmarks of cancer. STAT3 is a regulator of the genes involved in these cancer processes. More recently, the capability of tumors to evade immune surveillance and avoid destruction by the immune system has also gained significant acceptance in the cancer research field. STAT3, which is a point of convergence for many oncogenic pathways, has emerged as a critical mediator of tumor immune evasion at multiple levels.
Activation of STAT3 has been found in many types of cancers, including NSCLC, AML, and PDAC. Activation of STAT3 correlates with poor clinical outcome, high grade disease and metastasis, and has been linked with resistance to chemotherapy, including gemcitabine, considered a standard-of-care agent for advanced PDAC. Therefore, inhibition of STAT3 in combination with chemotherapy is expected to produce enhanced clinical benefit.