Fate Therapeutics Announces Issuance of US Patent Protecting Enhanced Hematopoietic Stem Cell Compositions

Fate Therapeutics, Inc. recently announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office issued US Patent No. 9,452,186 covering enhanced hematopoietic stem cell compositions. This newly issued patent expands the company’s significant intellectual property position covering ex vivo small molecule modulation of hematopoietic stem cells, which includes compositions and methods for enhanced lentiviral transduction and engraftment in the field of hematopoietic cell transplantation. The company also has filed corresponding patent applications to seek similar patent protection for its hematopoietic stem cell compositions in key markets throughout the world, including Europe and Japan.

“Fate Therapeutics has pioneered the ex vivo use of small molecules, including prostaglandin pathway agonists, to modulate the safety and efficacy of hematopoietic cells prior to patient administration,” said Scott Wolchko, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fate Therapeutics. “The issuance of this composition of matter patent, which covers the cellular composition of our lead product candidate ProTmune, validates that our ex vivo modulation approach can generate proprietary cellular immunotherapies. We believe this approach, which is backed by our extensive intellectual property, is broadly applicable to the development of hematopoietic cell therapies with novel biological properties and enhanced therapeutic functionality.”

This most recent patent, which expires in 2032, specifically covers compositions of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells with increased CXCR4 gene expression and methods of increasing engraftment and reconstitution in patients by administering CXCR4-enhanced hematopoietic stem cells. CXCR4 signaling has been proven to play a pivotal role in the homing of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells to the bone marrow in vivo and is critical to realizing the curative potential of hematopoietic cell transplantation. Importantly, these newly patented compositions and methods are independent of the specific modulators used to enhance the cells’ biological properties and therapeutic function.

ProTmune is an investigational programmed cellular immunotherapy undergoing clinical development for the prevention of acute graft-versus-host disease and cytomegalovirus infection in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. ProTmune is manufactured by modulating a donor-sourced, mobilized peripheral blood graft ex vivo with two small molecules (FT1050 and FT4145) to enhance the biological properties and therapeutic function of the graft’s immune cells. The programmed mobilized peripheral blood graft is administered to a patient as a one-time intravenous infusion. ProTmune has been granted Orphan Drug and Fast Track Designations by the US FDA.

Fate Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of programmed cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders. The company’s hematopoietic cell therapy pipeline is comprised of NK- and T-cell immuno-oncology programs, including off-the-shelf product candidates derived from engineered induced pluripotent cells, and immuno-regulatory programs, including product candidates to prevent life-threatening complications in patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation and to promote immune tolerance in patients with autoimmune disease. Its adoptive cell therapy programs are based on the company’s novel ex vivo cell programming approach, which it applies to modulate the therapeutic function and direct the fate of immune cells. For more information, please visit www.fatetherapeutics.com.