AIkido Pharma improves manufacturing process for pancreatic drug

The company also reported the issuance of an additional U.S. patent covering the drug, and the filing of a continuation patent application intended to expand patent coverage to other facets of the drug

AIkido Pharma reported an improvement in the manufacturing process for its pancreatic cancer drug, DHA-dFdC, licensed from the University of Texas at Austin. The company also reported the issuance of an additional U.S. patent covering the drug, and the filing of a continuation patent application intended to expand patent coverage to other facets of the drug.

With respect to manufacturing process, the company reported the successful development of a new means for the scaled production and isolation of the key intermediate compound in the manufacture of DH-dFdC. The company has now executed a further contract with its contract manufacturing organization, Parimer Scientific, to employ the new process to produce several thousand milligrams of the drug for use in formulation development and stability studies. The company also reported that the U.S. Patent Office recently issued new U.S. Patent No. 11,219,633, which provides additional intellectual property protection for the drug compound. The term of the patent is expected to continue until May of 2035 with the payment of required maintenance fees. Prior to the patent issuance, the company authorized the timely filing of a patent continuation application, U.S. Serial No. 17/539,682, in which additional claims related to various aspects of the drug and formulation will be pursued.

Anthony Hayes, CEO of AIkido, stated, "This new process significant step forward in the development of our pancreatic cancer drug and should permit production of the drug on a commercial scale at a lower cost. I am also pleased that we can continue to report expansion of the patent estate."

Richard T. Pace, Owner and Principal Scientist of Parimer Scientific, stated, "The newly developed manufacturing method is a large step forward for this innovative technology. I believe it will reduce cost per unit and at the same time increase batch production volumes."