Benzinga | Sep 9, 2021 07:28AM EDT

Evelo Biosciences Announces Issuance of U.S. Patent for Pharmaceutical Compositions of Single Strains of Naturally Occurring Bacteria as Medicines

Evelo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVLO), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing a new type of orally delivered medicines, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a new composition of matter patent (No. 11,090,341) for medicines comprising pharmaceutical compositions of Veillonella parvula bacteria.

This patent is a key addition to the Company's substantial and growing intellectual property (IP) portfolio for treatments targeting the small intestinal axis, SINTAX(tm). The issued claims in this new patent cover formulations of Veillonella parvula for oral administration, including EDP1867, which is currently in a Phase 1b clinical trial for the treatment of atopic dermatitis.

"The grant of this patent is further confirmation that pharmaceutical compositions containing single strains of naturally occurring bacteria selected for their potential therapeutic properties are patent-eligible," said Dr. Mark Bodmer, Chief Scientific Officer and President of R&D of Evelo. "These compositions do not occur in nature and so are patentable in a similar way to more conventional novel medicines. We are pleased that this has again been recognized by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, providing vital IP covering for Evelo's leading innovation in developing effective, safe, oral SINTAX medicines."

"The patent specification also discloses the use of extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from Veillonella as orally-delivered medicines," continued Dr. Bodmer. "Preclinical data suggest that EVs may be effective as oral gut-restricted medicines with systemic effects. Their physical properties may enable increased engagement of the small intestinal axis and, so, increased efficacy. Our first EV product candidate, EDP2939, is on-track to enter the clinic in 2022 as part of the continuing expansion of Evelo's product portfolio and its underlying IP."