Elan recieves US patent for Alzheimer's treatment

Elan and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office recently issued Neuralab Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Elan, three patents for the companies’ joint research on immunotherapeutic approaches to the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

The patents are for methods of prophylactically or therapeutically treating Alzheimer’s disease, including the administration of a pharmaceutical composition comprising an antibody that specifically binds to a region within the beta amyloid molecule.

Elan and Wyeth, solely or jointly, are the owners or exclusive licensees of more than 50 US patents and/or patent applications along with corresponding foreign patents supporting their Alzheimer's immunotherapy approach.

In 2000, Elan and Wyeth formed a collaboration to discover, develop and commercialize immunotherapeutic approaches to treat and prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

The companies are currently carrying out more research elsewhere for mild to moderate Alzheimer's.