Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (the “Company” or “Algernon”) (CSE: AGN) (FRANKFURT: AGW0) (OTCQB: AGNPF) a Canadian clinical stage pharmaceutical development company is pleased to announce that it has received a notice of allowance from the Japanese Patent Office for patent application No. 2021-547495 entitled: Compositions and Methods for Treating Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). The Company was previously granted a patent for the treatment of IPF in Canada and has also filed corresponding patent applications in the U.S., Europe, and China.
“The invention claims treating interstitial lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, with ifenprodil. Once issued, this will be the 6th patent received by the Company for its innovative drug repurposing program, with an additional 18 applications pending in major global markets.”
-Christopher J. Moreau, CEO of Algernon
Algernon’s intellectual property strategy for its repurposed drug program includes protecting its compounds by filing patent applications including those for novel salt forms, method of use, dosing and formulation.
About Ifenprodil
Ifenprodil is an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist specifically targeting the NMDA-type subunit 2B (GluN2B). Ifenprodil prevents glutamate signalling. The NMDA receptor is found on many tissues including lung cells, T-cells, and neutrophils and certain types of cancer cells.
The Company previously reported results from a proof-of-concept open label 20-patient Phase 2a human trial of Ifenprodil in patients with IPF and its associated cough. In the trial, patients receiving Ifenprodil 20 mg tid for 12 weeks experienced no worsening of their lung function, and significant improvements in the frequency of their IPF-associated cough. In addition, improvements in patient-reported measures of cough severity and quality of life were observed. The drug was also confirmed to be safe and well tolerated in the study.
About Algernon Pharmaceuticals
Algernon Pharmaceuticals is a Canadian clinical stage drug development and repurposing company investigating multiple drugs for unmet global medical needs. Algernon Pharmaceuticals has active research programs for chronic cough and chronic kidney disease, and is the parent company of a private subsidiary called Algernon NeuroScience, that is advancing a psychedelic program investigating a proprietary form of psychedelic DMT for stroke and traumatic brain injury.