Heat Shock Protein-Based Technology

Stressgen Biotechnologies Corporation has recently been awarded a patent (No. 6,335283) by USPTO for the method of inducing or enhancing a immune response in a patient by administering a pharmaceutical composition comprising of "fusion protein", a stress protein to a viral, cancer of HIV antigen, administered for the purpose of generating an antigen-specific immune response. The company has an exclusive worldwide licence from the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research. Exclusive right of the patent will help to ensure that the technology for developing heat shock fusion HspE7 to treat viral diseases and cancer will remain proprietary. HspE7 is a novel immuntherapeutic for the treatment of disease caused by HPV (human papillomavirus), one of the most commonly sexually transmitted diseases estimated to infect approximately 50 per cent of sexually active population. Stressgen and any potential partner should be able to capitalize upon patient exclusivity through 2019 in marketing fusion candidate for the treatment of HPV, which is currently in phase III clinical trials, fusion candidate for hepatitis B virus and fusion candidates for additional diseases including herpes simplex virus and HIV. The need for more effective therapies for infectious diseases and cancers has prompted researchers to explore how the immune system's powerful capabilities can be harnessed to fight the major diseases of mankind.

Source : AIBA, (WISTA INNOVATION, FEBRUARY 2002)