Nabi Biopharmaceuticals patent upheld

Nabi Biopharmaceuticals has prevailed in a challenge of its European patent for the process that covers its NicVAX® vaccine. In a recent ruling, the European Patent Office (EPO) upheld the firm’s European Patent EP1135166. In July 2005, Cytos Biotechnology AG filed a Notice of Opposition against Nabi's European patent and the Company filed its response in December 2005. The EPO notified Nabi in September 2007 that the opposition filing was admissible and held a hearing on April 23, 2008. The EPO cancelled some claims in the patent that do not affect the primary claim protecting Nabi Biopharmaceuticals' exclusive use of NicVAX for its intended purpose of treating and preventing nicotine addiction. Nabi plans to appeal these ancillary claim cancellations.
NicVAX is a nicotine conjugate vaccine intended to reduce or eliminate physical addiction to nicotine. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, NicVAX can potentially be used to inoculate against addiction. This proprietary vaccine is being developed by Nabi Biopharmaceuticals with the aid of the University of Houston-Clear Lake and University of Minnesota. NicVAX consists of the hapten 3'-aminomethylnicotine which has been conjugated (attached) to Pseudomonas aeruginosa exoprotein A.