The patent covers the science that underpins its methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) targeting monoclonal antibody, TPH 101.
The monoclonal antibody is designed to both treat and prevent infection by binding the endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (Gmd) subunit of staphylococcal autolysin, which is the enzyme that allows Staphylococci to attach to tissues and form biofilms.
In animal studies the antibody was shown to accelerate bacterial clearance and inhibit bacterial growth.
California, US-based Telephus licensed the antibody from a laboratory at New York’s University of Rochester (UR) run by company founder and chief scientific officer (CSO), Edward Schwarz.
Telephus – which is named after an ancient Greek warrior whose wounds only healed thanks to Odysseus’s medical intervention – licensed intellectual property (IP) covering wider therapeutic use of neutralizing antibodies to treat infection.
The Australian patent follow a few weeks after authorities in Canada and Japan issued Telephus with patents for the same antibody.
CEO Mark Benedyk said: “This third patent in our intellectual property estate extends Telephus’ portfolio covering monoclonal antibody compositions and methods targeting antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
He added that: “It also describes the technology on which our initial product, TPH 101, is based.”
In 2013, San Diego-headquartered Telephus told Xconomy it had raised $1.4m from individual investors and the Wilson Sonsini law firm and said it planned to take the drug into Phase I trials in 2016.