Regeneron Granted Fundamental Patents Covering Mouse Antibody Technology Used in VelocImmune® Mice

TARRYTOWN, N.Y., Aug. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN)today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted U.S. Patent No. 8,502,018 relating to methods of genetically modifying a mouse to make human antibodies.  A similar European patent, EP 1 360 287 B1, was granted by the European Patent Office on September 12, 2012.

These patents form part of Regeneron's global patent portfolio, which together protect fundamental inventions behind Regeneron's VelocImmune humanized mice.  The two patents listed above specifically contain claims covering genetically modified mice that have unrearranged human immunoglobulin variable region gene segments at endogenous mouse immunoglobulin loci.  The VelocImmune mice contain the full repertoire of human heavy chain immunoglobulin genes and kappa light chain genes, each linked to endogenous mouse constant regions.  As a result, VelocImmune mice generate a normal and robust immune response which many believe is becoming the gold standard for making human antibody therapeutics.  VelocImmune is also proving to be one of the most valuable technologies in biotechnology history, in terms of the licensing and collaboration revenues it has helped generate.

"VelocImmune provides perhaps the most powerful and efficient way of generating fully human monoclonal antibodies that are ready for clinical testing.  Its invention has allowed Regeneron to become a leading antibody therapeutics company, with twelve clinical stage antibodies generated through our VelocImmune platform currently in clinical development," said George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron and President of Regeneron Laboratories, and a co-inventor of these technologies.  "We are delighted to have been granted these patents covering our inventions, as they recognize the important advances that we made in this field."

"When Regeneron's VelocImmune mice were developed, they represented the largest scale precision genetic engineering feat achieved to date," said Andrew Murphy, Ph.D., Senior Vice President Research, Regeneron Laboratories, and a co-inventor of these technologies.  "The scope of the issued claims in these two patents reflects the breadth of Regeneron's contribution to human antibody therapeutics and mouse engineering, and provides Regeneron with important proprietary technology advantages in the human antibody therapeutic space both in the United States and Europe." 

About Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Regeneron is a leading science-based biopharmaceutical company based in Tarrytown, New York that discovers, invents, develops, manufactures, and commercializes medicines for the treatment of serious medical conditions.  Regeneron markets medicines for eye diseases, colorectal cancer, and a rare inflammatory condition and has product candidates in development in other areas of high unmet medical need, including hypercholesterolemia, oncology, rheumatoid arthritis, allergic asthma, and atopic dermatitis.  For additional information about the company, please visit www.regeneron.com.

SOURCE Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.