U.S. Patent Issued for Gastrointestinal Therapy

(USPTO.gov)

Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. in New York says today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded a patent to the company for its drug candidate SP-333 to treat various gastrointestinal disorders. U.S. Patent No. 7,879,802 was issued on 1 February, according to the company.

The patent claims the composition of SP-333 and use in the treatment of human diseases. Synergy says SP-333 is a synthetic analog of uroguanylin, a hormone which is normally produced in the body’s intestinal tract, with the potential to treat gastrointestinal diseases such as ulcerative colitis. Deficiency of this hormone is believed to be a reason for the formation of polyps that can lead to colon cancer, as well as debilitating and difficult-to-treat gastrointestinal inflammatory disorders such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Synergy says it plans to file an Investigational New Drug application with the Food and Drug Administration for this therapy in 2011, and begin a phase 1 clinical trial of SP-333 in healthy volunteers also in 2011.

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