A Medical Device Daily

IpAuctions (Reno, Nevada) will auction the worldwide biotherapeutic patents previously owned by Cell Works (Baltimore) and acquired by CellPoint Diagnostics (Mountain View, California). These patents primarily consist of organ-targeted drug delivery systems to combat liver disease.

Fifteen major U.S. and worldwide medical patents and applications in three major treatment areas will be auctioned, including one associated with a liver cancer therapeutic drug that has been granted orphan drug status by the FDA.

The orphan drug status designation is given to provide special benefits to encourage development of drugs to treat conditions having a prevalence of less than 200,000 cases in the U.S. The worldwide market for a liver cancer therapeutic is quite large, however, and U.S. orphan drug status includes other possible benefits such as research grants, assistance in negotiating the regulatory process and special tax credits.

The IP portfolio currently for sale by IpAuctions consists of a therapeutic platform for a ligand-directed drug delivery system that can target the liver or the renal system for greater specificity and efficacy, with less toxicity to the patient.

The patents and applications in this portfolio describe the use of a ligand-directed drug delivery system. The system consists of a ligand (a carbohydrate that is bound and internalized by a cell/tissue-specific receptor on the cell surface) that serves as a guidance system to direct the delivery of the conjugated drug to the targeted organ, according to information provided by Cell Works.