New “Decision to grant” communications in Europe and Japan
MADRID and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oryzon Genomics, S.A. (ISIN Code: ES0167733015, ORY), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company and a European leader in epigenetics, announced today that the European Patent Office has issued a “Decision to grant” communication for its European patent application EP20712563.4 relating to vafidemstat. The patent, titled “Methods of treating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder using KDM1A inhibitors such as the compound vafidemstat”, covers the use Oryzon’s LSD1 inhibitor, vafidemstat, currently in clinical development for psychiatric disorders.
A “Decision to grant” is a formal communication from a Patent Office indicating that the patent application has met all requirements for issuance as a patent. Once formally granted, this European patent will remain in force until at least 2040, excluding any potential patent term extension. A counterpart patent has already been granted in Japan, and additional applications are pending in other countries.
Oryzon also announced that it has received a “Decision to grant” from the Japanese Patent Office for its patent application JP2022-514201, titled “Methods of treating autism spectrum disorder”. This will be the first granted patent in this patent family, with applications pending in other countries. This Japanese patent, once issued, will also remain in force until at least 2040, not including potential term extension.
“These new patent allowances in Europe and Japan complement the ample portfolio we’ve already secured for vafidemstat,” said Neus Virgili, Oryzon’s Chief IP Officer. “They further strengthen our global IP position and support the compound’s commercial potential across multiple CNS indications and our competitive position.”
Oryzon’s patent porfolio for vafidemstat in CNS also includes two additional patent families:.
One covers the treatment of aggression and social withdrawal, with patents already granted or allowed in Europe, Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Russia, and patent applications pending in other countries. These patents will remain in force until at least 2038, excluding any potential patent term extensions, which may provide additional years of protection.
The second patent family relates to the treatment of borderline personality disorder, with allowed or granted patents in Europe, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Singapore and South Africa, and patent applications pending in additional countries. These patents will remain in force until at least 2040, excluding any potential patent term extensions, which may provide additional years of protection.
About Oryzon Founded in 2000 in Barcelona, Spain, Oryzon (ISIN Code: ES0167733015) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company and the European leader in epigenetics, with a strong focus on personalized medicine in CNS disorders and oncology. Oryzon’s team is composed of highly qualified professionals from the pharma industry located in Barcelona, Boston, and San Diego. Oryzon has an advanced clinical portfolio with two LSD1 inhibitors, vafidemstat in CNS (Phase III-ready) and iadademstat in oncology (Phase II). The company has other pipeline assets directed against other epigenetic targets like HDAC-6 where a clinical candidate ORY-4001, has been nominated for its possible development in CMT and ALS. In addition, Oryzon has a strong platform for biomarker identification and target validation for a variety of malignant and neurological diseases. For more information, visit www.oryzon.com
About Vafidemstat Vafidemstat (ORY-2001) is an oral, CNS-optimized LSD1 inhibitor. The molecule acts on several levels: it reduces cognitive impairment, including memory loss and neuroinflammation, and at the same time has neuroprotective effects. In animal studies vafidemstat not only restores memory but reduces the exacerbated aggressiveness of SAMP8 mice, a model for accelerated aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), to normal levels and also reduces social avoidance and enhances sociability in murine models. In addition, vafidemstat exhibits fast, strong, and durable efficacy in several preclinical models of multiple sclerosis (MS). Oryzon has performed two Phase IIa clinical trials in aggressiveness in patients with different psychiatric disorders (REIMAGINE, see Ferrer et al, Psychiatry & Clin Neurosci, 2025, doi.org/10.1111/pcn.13800) and in aggressive/agitated patients with moderate or severe AD (REIMAGINE-AD), with positive clinical results reported in both. Additional finalized Phase IIa clinical trials with vafidemstat include the ETHERAL trial in patients with Mild to Moderate AD, where a significant reduction of the inflammatory biomarker YKL40 was observed after 6 and 12 months of treatment, and the pilot, small-scale SATEEN trial in Relapse-Remitting and Secondary Progressive MS, where anti-inflammatory activity was also observed. Vafidemstat has also been tested in a Phase II in severe Covid-19 patients (ESCAPE) assessing the capability of the drug to prevent ARDS, one of the most severe complications of the viral infection, where it showed significant anti-inflammatory effects in severe Covid-19 patients. Vafidemstat is currently advancing as a Phase III-ready asset in Borderline Personality disorder (BPD) following completion of the global, randomized, double blind Phase IIb PORTICO trial (final data presented at ECNP-2024). Following receipt of the minutes from the End-of-Phase II meeting with the FDA to discuss PORTICO’s results, the company announced plans to move forward with a Phase III PORTICO-2 trial in agitation/aggression in BPD (FDA submission planned in 1H2025). Vafidemstat is also being investigated in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase IIb trial in negative symptoms of schizophrenia (EVOLUTION trial, recruitment ongoing). The company is also deploying a CNS precision medicine approach with vafidemstat in genetically-defined patient subpopulations of certain CNS disorders and is evaluating a clinical trial in Kabuki Syndrome patients. The company is also exploring the clinical development of vafidemstat in other neurodevelopmental syndromes.
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