By Jason Derry --
Tobira Therapeutics Inc. has announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued Patent No. 7,371,772. According to Tobira, the '772 patent, which is assigned on its face to Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., covers a compound that Tobira currently has in Phase I development for the treatment of HIV-1. The compound, known as TBR-652, is a CCR5 antagonist. CCR5, a chemokine receptor expressed on T cells, macrophages, dendritic cells, and microglia, serves as a viral co-receptor that can be used by HIV to infect a target cell. Tobira was also recently issued a European patent (EP 1 220 842) that relates to another CCR5 antagonist compound, designated TBR-220.
The lone claim of the '772 patent recites:
1. (S)-8-[4-(2-Butoxyethoxy)phenyl]-1-isobutyl-N-(4-{[(1-propyl-1H-imidaxol
-5-yl)methyl]sulfinyl}phenyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-benzazocine-5-carboxamide, (S)-8-[4-(2-butoxyothoxy) or a salt thereof.
Jason Derry, Ph.D., who graduated with honors from DePaul University College of Law, is a molecular biologist and founding author of Patent Docs.
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