SAN DIEGO, Dec. 20, 2011
Marshall Edwards, Inc. (Nasdaq: MSHL), an oncology company focused
on the clinical development of novel therapeutics targeting cancer
metabolism, announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office has issued a new patent, U.S. Patent No. 8,080,675, covering
a number of the Company's isoflavone-based compounds, including
lead oncology drug candidates ME-143 and ME-344, and their
pharmaceutical compositions. The patent is estimated to provide
protection until March 2027.
"This patent represents another important milestone in our
efforts to develop our lead drug candidates into valuable treatment
options for patients with cancer," said Daniel P. Gold, Ph.D., President and Chief
Executive Officer of Marshall
Edwards. "Furthermore, this demonstrates our commitment to
further strengthening the intellectual property portfolio we
acquired earlier this year, which will be essential for partnering
any of our drug candidates and enhancing shareholder value."
Marshall Edwards completed the
acquisition of its isoflavone-based intellectual property
portfolio, including worldwide rights to lead oncology drug
candidates ME-143 and ME-344, from Novogen Limited in May 2011. The portfolio now includes 11 issued
U.S. patents, at least 14 U.S. patent applications, at least 40
issued foreign patents and at least 80 foreign patent
applications.
About Marshall Edwards
Marshall Edwards, Inc. (Nasdaq:
MSHL) is a San Diego-based
oncology company focused on the clinical development of novel
anti-cancer therapeutics. The Company's lead programs focus on two
families of small molecules that result in the inhibition of tumor
cell metabolism. The first and most advanced is a NADH oxidase
inhibitor program that includes lead candidate ME-143. The Company
initiated a Phase I clinical trial of intravenous ME-143 in
patients with solid refractory tumors in September 2011 and expects final data from the
trial by the second quarter of 2012. The second program is a family
of mitochondrial inhibitors that includes lead candidate ME-344.
The Company is currently conducting the necessary pre-clinical
animal toxicity studies to support submission of an Investigational
New Drug (IND) application for ME-344 in the first quarter of 2012.
For more information, please visit www.marshalledwardsinc.com.
Under U.S. law, a new drug cannot be marketed until it has
been investigated in clinical trials and approved by the FDA as
being safe and effective for the intended use. Statements included
in this press release that are not historical in nature are
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe
harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. You should be aware that our actual results could differ
materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements,
which are based on management's current expectations and are
subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not
limited to, our failure to successfully commercialize our product
candidates; costs and delays in the development and/or FDA
approval, or the failure to obtain such approval, of our product
candidates; uncertainties or differences in interpretation in
clinical trial results; our inability to maintain or enter into,
and the risks resulting from our dependence upon, collaboration or
contractual arrangements necessary for the development,
manufacture, commercialization, marketing, sales and distribution
of any products; competitive factors; our inability to protect our
patents or proprietary rights and obtain necessary rights to third
party patents and intellectual property to operate our business;
our inability to operate our business without infringing the
patents and proprietary rights of others; general economic
conditions; the failure of any products to gain market acceptance;
our inability to obtain any additional required financing;
technological changes; government regulation; changes in industry
practice; and one-time events. We do not intend to update any of
these factors or to publicly announce the results of any revisions
to these forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Marshall Edwards, Inc.