Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium - Celyad, a leader in the discovery and development of engineered cell-based therapies, announced in a press release that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has decided to uphold Celyad’s US Patent No. 9,181,527, relating to allogeneic human primary T-cells that are engineered to be TCR-deficient and express a CAR.

 

“We are pleased with the outcome of this re-examination of our patent related to the production of allogeneic TCR-deficient CAR-T cells. This marks the third decision by the USPTO to uphold this patent, which thus remains valid and enforceable, and provides for continued intellectual property protection for this valuable asset”, said Philippe Dechamps, Chief Legal Officer of Celyad.

“Allogeneic CAR T-cells are a promising avenue to broaden the scope of application of cell based immunotherapy”, said Georges Rawadi, VP Business Development and IP of Celyad.  “We look forward to the further development of our own allogeneic programs and also continue to offer other parties access to this important patent to advance the field more broadly.”

 

Celyad’s US patent (No. 9,181,527), and more precisely claim 1 of the said patent, was challenged by an anonymous third party through an Ex Parte Re-examination procedure. The request for Ex Parte re-examination was filed on February 10th, 2016 and an order granting Ex Parte Re-examination of claim 1 was issued by the USPTO on March 24th, 2016. The final decision of this Ex Parte procedure that was issued on January 6th 2017 is not subject to appeal and upholds the validity of the patent.

 

Therefore, Celyad’s US patent (No. 9,181,527), confirms continued coverage of CAR-expressing human T-cells, according to Claim 1, modified to reduce or eliminate T-cell receptor expression or function.