iBio’s Endostatin-Related Peptides for Fibrosis, Scleroderma Issued US Patent

The pharmaceutical company iBio, which focuses on the clinical development of drugs for systemic sclerosis and other fibrotic diseases, was recently issued a U.S. patent protecting the company’s drug development attempts using endostatin-related peptides for the treatment of fibrosis.

According to a press release, the patent, US 9,365,616, titled “Use of Endostatin Peptides for the Treatment of Fibrosis,” complements earlier U.S. patents 8,507,441 and 8,716,232 covering this line of drug development. The patent covers both the composition of the drugs and the methods for which endostatin-related peptides might be used.

iBio, which usually deals with plant-based pharmaceuticals, developed the peptides derived from endostatin with Dr. Carol Feghali-Bostwick and her colleagues at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), but holds exclusive licenses to the previous patents.

The company now runs a continuing collaboration with MUSC and Feghali-Bostwick, whose work on the peptides derived from endostatin has led to the invention and development of a new therapeutic approach that might provide a breakthrough in fibrotic disease treatment.

Earlier publications by Feghali-Bostwick, starting with a 2012 study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, demonstrated that an endostatin-derived peptide called E4 potently blocked the development of fibrosis in mice and in human cultured cells. The factor could also lessen already established fibrosis in both live mice and human cells.

Later studies, including a report published late last year in the journal International Immunopharmacology, confirmed that the peptide E4 is a potential drug candidate for fibrosis.

Endostatin is a collagen fragment that blocks the production of new blood vessels, and the original study explored the effects of both endostatin and three peptides derived from it in fibrosis models, with continuing focus on the E4 peptide.

iBio has now produced the peptides to be included in the drug candidates using its proprietary gene expression technology iBioLaunch, and stated that the clinical development of IBIO-CFB03 — the drug candidate based on the E4 peptide — is a key priority.

The company will also produce material to test the drug candidates in human clinical trials, and is setting up for a large-scale production in case the U.S. FDA issues a regulatory approval of a drug candidate.

The production will be covered by iBio’s new subsidiary, iBio CMO in their Bryan, Texas facilities.