Borean Pharma granted European Patent for Protein trimerisation Technology

Aarhus, Denmark, November 10, 2004…. Borean Pharma A/S, the Aarhus-based biopharmaceutical and protein engineering company, announced today that it has been granted European Patent No. 1012280, entitled ‘Trimerising Module’ by the European Patent Office.

The patent broadly covers compounds which are trimerised by a module originating from tetranectin, which is a naturally occurring human plasma and tissue protein. The compounds covered by the patent are at the core of Borean Pharma's protein engineering technology.

Hans Christian Thøgersen, Borean’s Chief Scientific Officer and Founder, commented:

‘This patent covers a significant discovery by Borean Pharma that has potential applications in extending the shelf-life of protein pharmaceuticals. Once again, Borean has demonstrated that it is a pioneer in this field.’

Johanna Holldack, Chief Executive Officer of Borean Pharma added:

‘We are delighted that this patent application has been successful. In addition to the patents already granted Borean, this forms a part of the broad and strong intellectual property portfolio in the development of improved biopharmaceuticals.’

The coiled trimerisation module of tetranectin is remarkably stable and its derivatives have been shown to be heat-stable at temperatures up to 60-70ºC. This heat stability has significant implications for developing pharmaceutical compounds with a long shelf-life. Additionally, the domain can be used to improve plasma half-life and overall efficacy for existing protein drugs or new protein drug candidates by trimerisation of the active protein in a fusion-protein approach. Apolipoprotein A-I, a promising arterial drug candidate, antibody fragments, antibody analogues, protein hormones, and soluble receptor fragments are all examples of proteins that Borean Pharma have successfully trimerised.

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About Borean Pharma

Borean Pharma was established with the objective to develop a new generation of pharmaceutical protein products. The company's competitive advantage lies in its proprietary technology, enabling it to develop a new generation of highly efficacious antibody analogues that can be produced in E.coli. The ease of production addresses a major shortcoming of monoclonal antibodies. Borean Pharma believes that it can unleash the true potential of biologicals by providing efficacious and cost-effective protein-based antibody analogues.

For further information please visit the website at www.boreanpharma.com

Contact:

Dr. Johanna Holldack

CEO

Borean Pharma

t : +45 86 20 51 57

e: joh@boreanpharma.com


Dr. Douglas Pretsell

Senior Account Manager

Northbank Communications

t : +44 (0) 20 7886 8158

e: d.pretsell@northbankcommunications.com