SALT LAKE CITY–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Q Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that it was awarded Patent Number 7,214,372, titled “Methods Using Lineage Restricted Glial Precursors from the Central Nervous System,” by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patent contains claims to methods for increasing re-myelination of neurons in a human suffering from a disease or condition associated with Demyelination of neurons and comprising administering to the human an effective amount of human glial restricted precursor cells partially differentiated into oligodendrocytes. The patent also contains claims to methods for reducing glial scar formation in a human comprising administering to the human a composition comprising an effective amount of human glial restricted precursor cells partially differentiated into astrocytes. Q has exclusive worldwide license to this and other patents from the University of Utah, from the work of Dr. Mahendra Rao, a co-founder of Q.
“Q’s intellectual property estate around glial restricted progenitors, as well as other progenitor cells, is firmly established, and continues to expand,” said Deborah Eppstein, Ph.D., President and CEO of Q Therapeutics. “With the issuance of this patent, Q now holds a portfolio of 15 patents and 23 pending patent applications in the field of neural progenitor cells in various jurisdictions worldwide.”
Q Therapeutics is an emerging biopharmaceutical company, venture-backed and privately held. The Company is developing products to treat debilitating diseases of the central nervous system. The Company’s first product, Q-Cells(TM), is a cell-based therapeutic intended to replace the insulating Myelin on damaged neurons and thus regenerate normal function of these neurons. Q-Cells are applicable to a wide range of demyelinating diseases, including Multiple Sclerosis (MS), cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury and white matter stroke. Clinical trials are targeted to commence in 2008 in Transverse Myelitis, a rapidly paralyzing, inflammatory spinal cord injury related to MS. Q’s pipeline includes other cell products for treating diseases including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Diseases and ALS, as well as Peripheral neuropathies.
Q is presenting at the Bio International Convention in Boston on May 8 at 11 am-12:30 pm in the Regenerative Medicine Track, and also will be exhibiting at booth #2707 in the Utah Pavilion.
Contact:
Q Therapeutics, Inc., Salt Lake City
Deborah A Eppstein, Ph.D., 801-582-5400, ext. 110
deppstein@qthera.com
Source: Q Therapeutics, Inc.
