30/10/2001
London, UK – 30th October 2001: ReGen Therapeutics Plc (“ReGen” or the “Company”) announces that it has entered into an agreement which will result in it acquiring the full ownership of the intellectual property rights relating to Colostrinin™, the Company’s potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease which it is currently developing.
The Company originally acquired partial rights to Colostrinin™ from its Polish inventors and the Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy (“Institute”), a Polish scientific institute, in 1997. Under the terms of an agreement between them and ReGen’s subsidiary, Georgiades Biotech Limited (“GBL”), a family of patent applications on Colostrinin™ and its uses were jointly-owned between the Institute and GBL until payment by GBL of certain sums once regulatory drug approval was obtained. Three of those patent applications have now been granted, including two in the United Kingdom.
Following a revision of the terms of the agreement with the Institute, it has now been agreed that GBL will become the sole owner of the intellectual property, including the granted patents and all pending patent applications. The revised terms provide that the transfer of those intellectual property rights to GBL will be completed on the payment of US$160,000 to the Institute by 17 November 2001. GBL has already paid US$80,000 of that amount. The revised terms also provide that the only future payments the Institute will receive will be royalties on sales of Colostrinin-based products if and when drug approval is granted.
ReGen’s CEO Mike Harvey commented “Outright ownership of the intellectual property which forms the foundation of the use of Colostrinin™ as a potential Alzheimer’s disease therapy will, we believe significantly strengthen ReGen’s position in any future negotiations with potential licencees for the Company’s products.”