GRI Bio Announces Notice of Allowance for Canadian Patent Covering Proprietary Natural Killer T Cell Modulators

GRI Bio, Inc. recently announced the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has issued a notice of allowance for Patent Application No. 3,007,970 titled, Prevention and Treatment of Inflammatory Conditions. A patent from the recently allowed application is expected to be issued in the coming months.

When issued, the patent will cover claims including compositions and methods for modulating type 2 and/or type 1 invariant NKT (iNKT) cells in the prevention and treatment of inflammatory conditions of the liver. More specifically, when issued the patent will cover the prevention and treatment of inflammatory and fibrotic conditions through the administration of a Retinoic Acid Receptor (RAR) agonist that inhibits iNKT cells and the administration of an RAR agonist that inhibits the activity of iNKT cells in a subject.

“We have remained committed to bolstering our intellectual property protection across our innovative pipeline of NKT cell modulators. We are pleased to receive this notice of allowance for our Canadian patent and believe this further validates our differentiated approach to the prevention and treatment of inflammatory, fibrotic and autoimmune diseases as well as underscores the global unmet need amongst patients. Our team is focused on driving our development programs forward, generating a growing body of data and continuing to build our patent estate with the ultimate goal of bringing to market much needed treatment options,” Marc Hertz, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of GRI Bio.

GRI Bio is currently advancing its lead program GRI-0621, a small molecule RAR-βɣ dual agonist candidate that inhibits the activity of human iNKT cells, in a Phase 2a, randomized, double-blind, multi-center, placebo-controlled, parallel-design, 2-arm study for the treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). IPF is a rare chronic progressive pulmonary disease with abnormal scarring of the lung blocking the movement of oxygen into the bloodstream. Interim data from the Phase 2a biomarker study is expected in the first half of 2024 and topline results are expected in the second half of 2024.

GRI Bio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on fundamentally changing the way inflammatory, fibrotic and autoimmune diseases are treated. GRI Bio’s therapies are designed to target the activity of NKT cells, which are key regulators earlier in the inflammatory cascade, to interrupt disease progression and restore the immune system to homeostasis. NKT cells are innate-like T cells that share properties of both NK and T cells and are a functional link between the innate and adaptive immune responses. iNKT cells play a critical role in propagating the injury, inflammatory response, and fibrosis observed in inflammatory and fibrotic indications. GRI Bio’s lead program, GRI-0621, is an inhibitor of iNKT cell activity and is being developed as a novel oral therapeutic for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a serious disease with significant unmet need. The Company is also developing a pipeline of novel type 2 NKT agonists for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus. Additionally, with a library of over 500 proprietary compounds, GRI Bio has the ability to fuel a growing pipeline. For more information, visit gribio.com.