Synergen Inc. and the University of Colorado Foundation Inc.said Tuesday that they have received a broad patent on theDNA for interleukin-1 inhibitors and methods for theproduction of IL-1 inhibitors.

"This is very important to us," Jon Saxe, Synergen's presidentand chief executive officer, told BioWorld. "It establishes ourexclusive rights to Antril."

This is the company's first U.S. patent related to Antril, therecombinant IL-1 receptor antagonist that is scheduled to enterPhase III trials for sepsis in early 1992. The Boulder, Colo.,company (NASDAQ:SYGN) is in trials for six other indications.

On Monday, Alex. Brown & Sons analyst David Webberprojected that Antril sales would comprise 75 percent of thecompany's revenue in 1993, rising to nearly 83 percent ofprojected total sales of $962 million in 1996.

U.S. patent No. 5,075,222, issued Tuesday, includes 31 claimsthat cover methods for production of IL-1 inhibitors, as well asDNA, plasmids, vectors and host cells useful in the productionof the protein.

The patent covers a family of genes that make IL-1ra or closelyrelated proteins, Saxe said. It would thus also cover modifiedforms of Antril. The drug blocks the action of IL-1 at its cellsurface receptors.

The patent doesn't cover the product claims for Antril, saidSaxe. Claims to the protein itself are in other pending patentapplications, he said.

According to Alex. Brown broker Mike King, Webber onTuesday told brokers that the patent would not pose anycompetitive problems for other companies working on IL-1inhibitors, such as Immunex Corp. (NASDAQ:IMNX) andImClone Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:IMCL). Montgomery Securitiesanalyst Brandon Fradd agreed that the patent won't inhibitother approaches to IL-1.

Saxe said the patent doesn't cover work on soluble IL-1 beingdone by Immunex. "Their soluble IL-1 receptor is a totallydifferent protein," he said.

Synergen shares rose 25 cents to $59.38 on Tuesday. Immunexgained $1 to $53.50 and ImClone was unchanged at $16.25.

-- Karen Bernstein BioWorld Staff

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