Immutep secures new European patent for IMP761

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Australian company Immutep (ASX:IMM), which is focused on the development of novel immunotherapy treatments for cancer and autoimmune disease, has been granted a new patent by the European Patent Office.

The patent number 3344654 is entitled 'AntiLAG-3 Antibodies'. The expiry date is 1 September 2036.

The claims of the patent are directed to Immutep’s pre-clinical product candidate, IMP761, and also to the use of IMP761 in the treatment of T-cell mediated inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

IMP761 is a first-in-class immunosuppressive agonist antibody to LAG-3. As a targeted immunosuppressive antibody, IMP761 has the potential to address the root cause of autoimmune diseases by specifically silencing the autoimmune memory T cells accumulating at the disease site which express LAG-3 as an exhaustion marker after being repeatedly stimulated with dominant self-peptides.

Immutep CEO Marc Voigt said, “IMP761 is the first agonist antibody that targets the immune checkpoint LAG-3 and aims to treat the root cause of autoimmune diseases such as, for example, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. It is very pleasing to see the grant of this patent in the important European market which will underpin ongoing investment in this promising product candidate.”

Immutep chief scientific and chief medical officer, Dr Frederic Triebel, added, “There continues to be a significant unmet medical need for patients with various autoimmune diseases and so it is highly encouraging to see the recent progress being made with IMP761 towards clinical development, both in terms of cell line development announced in April 2020 and now with securing intellectual property protection.”