Anixa Biosciences (ANIX) Announces Japanese Patent on Breast Cancer Vaccine Technology

Anixa Biosciences, Inc. ("Anixa" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: ANIX), a biotechnology company focused on the treatment and prevention of cancer, today announced that its collaborator, Cleveland Clinic, has received a "Decision to Grant" notice from the Japan Patent Office (JPO) for the patent application titled "Vaccine Adjuvants and Formulations."

"This new Japanese patent extends the claims for this novel breast cancer vaccine technology to an additional geographic region, beyond the U.S. and European patents previously awarded," stated Anixa Chairman and CEO Dr. Amit Kumar. "As the exclusive worldwide licensee of the technology, we value the additional protection this patent provides as we continue clinical development."

The vaccine is currently being studied in a phase one clinical trial at Cleveland Clinic.

Anixa's breast cancer vaccine takes advantage of endogenously produced proteins that have a function at certain times in life, but then become "retired" and disappear from the body. One such protein is a breast-specific lactation protein, α-lactalbumin, which is no longer found post-lactation in normal, aging tissues, but is present in certain breast cancers. Activating the immune system against this "retired" protein provides preemptive immune protection against emerging breast tumors that express α-lactalbumin. The vaccine also contains an adjuvant that activates an innate immune response, which allows the immune system to mount a response against emerging tumors to prevent them from growing.

This vaccine technology was invented by the late Dr. Vincent Tuohy, who was the Mort and Iris November Distinguished Chair in Innovative Breast Cancer Research in the Department of Inflammation and Immunity at Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute. Cleveland Clinic exclusively licensed this technology to Anixa Biosciences. Dr. Tuohy was entitled to a portion of the commercialization revenues received by Cleveland Clinic and also held equity in Anixa.

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