Sonnet BioTherapeutics Further Expands Global Intellectual Property Portfolio With Issuance of Patent for Platform Technology

Sonnet BioTherapeutics Holdings, Inc recently announced that the European Patent Office (EPO) has granted Patent No. EP3583125 B1, titled Albumin Binding Domain Fusion Proteins, which covers Sonnet’s Fully Human Albumin Binding (F_HAB) technology and includes therapeutic fusion proteins that utilize F_HAB for tumor targeting and retention and provide extended pharmacokinetics (PK). The EU patent carries a term effective until February 20, 2038. Additionally, the company announced the release of a “What This Means” segment to discuss the EU patent and its global IP estate, which is now available here.

“The granting of this EU patent represents another milestone that provides expanded global protection along with building our intellectual capital and differentiation from any existing or emerging competitive technologies that may leverage the beneficial characteristics of binding to human serum albumin,” commented Pankaj Mohan, PhD, Founder and CEO of Sonnet. “Further, this European patent issuance expands the global IP protection for our product pipeline beyond previous patents issued in China, Japan, Russia, and New Zealand, which we believe provides further validation for our F_HAB platform.”

Sonnet’s F_HAB platform consists of a single, fully human construct of a F_HAB antibody fragment that has high affinity to bind to human albumin. The platform provides an off-the-shelf lock and load opportunity to rapidly develop numerous therapeutic biologics.

John Cini, PhD, Co-Founder and CSO of Sonnet commented, “The F_HAB platform technology provides each of Sonnet’s pipeline drug candidates with either a mono- or bi-functional mechanism of action, thus allowing for the potential of biological synergy between cytokines. Preclinical comparative in vivo studies with wild type cytokines have shown that F_HAB-derived drug candidates have reproducibly extended pharmacokinetics, enhanced payload delivery to the tumor and improved efficacy.”

Sonnet is an oncology-focused biotechnology company with a proprietary platform for developing targeted biologic drugs with single or bifunctional action. Known as F_HAB (Fully Human Albumin-Binding), the technology utilizes a fully human single chain antibody fragment (scFv) that binds to and “hitch-hikes” on human serum albumin (HSA) for transport to target tissues. Sonnet’s FHAB was designed to specifically target tumor and lymphatic tissue, with an improved therapeutic window for optimizing the safety and efficacy of immune modulating biologic drugs. F_HAB platform is the foundation of a modular, plug-and-play construct for potentiating a range of large molecule therapeutic classes, including cytokines, peptides, antibodies and vaccines.

Sonnet’s lead program, SON-1010, or IL-12-F_HAB, is in development for the treatment of solid tumors and ovarian cancer. SON-1010 is being evaluated in an ongoing Phase 1/2a study through a Master Clinical Trial and Supply Agreement, along with ancillary Quality and Safety Agreements, with Roche in combination with atezolizumab (Tecentriq) for the treatment of platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (PROC). The Company is also evaluating its second program, SON-1210, an IL12-F_HAB-IL15 for solid tumors, in collaboration with the Sarcoma Oncology Center to commence an investigator-initiated and funded Phase 1/2a study for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

The Company’s SON-080 program is a low dose of rhIL-6 in development for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN) and Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (DPN). SON-080 demonstrated encouraging results in a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial, being well tolerated with no evidence of a pro-inflammatory cytokine response. In October 2024, Sonnet announced an India license agreement with Alkem Laboratories, Inc. who will assume responsibility for advancing development of the SON-080 program into a Phase 2 study in DPN.