Arsanis, Inc.,a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on applying monoclonal antibody immunotherapies to address serious infectious diseases, announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") issued U.S. Patent No. 9914767 to the company.

This patent broadly claims composition of matter for antibodies that cross-neutralize Staphylococcus aureus alpha hemolysin (Hla) and up to four additional S. aureus leukocidins targeted by ASN-1, one of the two antibodies in the company’s lead product candidate, ASN100.

ASN100 is a combination of two fully human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that together neutralize the six cytotoxins critical to S. aureus pneumonia pathogenesis, including toxins that damage lung tissue and destroy human immune cells.

This patent grants intellectual property protection in the United States through 2033.

“The USPTO granting of this important patent follows similar patents for the composition-of-matter for these cross-reactive antibodies, including patent grants issued by the European Patent Office in 2015, and by the Japan Patent Office and IP Australia in 2017,” said Michael Gray, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Arsanis. “We plan to continue our efforts to strengthen our intellectual property portfolio for ASN100 and our other pipeline programs.”