European Patent Office has granted Active Biotech’s patent application for eye drop formulation of laquinimod

Lund, October 23 2024 – Active Biotech (NASDAQ STOCKHOLM: ACTI) today announced that the European Patent Office (EPO) has granted Active Biotech’s patent application covering a proprietary developed eye drop formulation of laquinimod.

The patent “Laquinimod formulation for ocular use”, published on October 23, 2024 under European patent number 4312986, provides protection and market exclusivity until 2042.

“The now granted patent is important for the continued development of laquinimod in eye diseases. The eye drop formulation of laquinimod has been documented to be safe in healthy subjects and initial results from patients undergoing eye surgery show that laquinimod is distributed to the posterior parts of the eye, which makes us very enthusiastic for the continued clinical development”, says Helén Tuvesson, CEO

An innovative formulation of laquinimod for corneal application was developed and optimised to facilitate trans-corneal-scleral passage of laquinimod for use in the treatment of inflammatory eye disorders.

The eye drop formulation has been tested in a phase I study and documented to be safe without any serious adverse effects in healthy subjects treated for up to 21 days. We also recently reported initial data from an ongoing phase I biodistribution study in patients undergoing eye-surgery at Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University in US, which demonstrate that use of laquinimod eye-drops leads to therapeutically relevant intra-ocular concentrations. This study is recruiting towards completion in 2024, and activities are now being increased to find a partner for the planned clinical phase II/III development of laquinimod in inflammatory eye disorders.