The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued notice of allowance (NOA) to Synairgen for its patent application directed to the use of inhaled interferon beta ('IFN-beta') to treat rhinovirus infections in the elderly (defined as an individual of age 40 plus).
Synairgen said that upon issuance, the patented claims will provide the company with patent protection for the use of its drug in the elderly population.
Synairgen CEO Richard Marsden said that these claims sit very well next to the previously granted patents for the use of inhaled IFN-beta in the asthmatic and COPD populations and broaden the potential benefit of inhaled IFN-beta to ‘elderly’ people regardless of any pre-existing respiratory impairment.