USPTO Issues Patent Covering Use of XPro for Treatment of CNS Diseases


INmune Bio, Inc. recently announced the issuance of US Pat. No. 11,365,229 for METHODS OF TREATING NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES, a patent directed to use of Dominant Negative Tumor Necrosis Factor (DN-TNF) variants, such as the company’s XPro, by peripheral administration for crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and treating diseases of the Central Nervous System (CNS). The patent is currently set to provide coverage through September 10, 2033, subject to a possible patent term extension if requested by the company and approved by the USPTO under 35 U.S.C. 156.

“The issuance of this patent adds significant value to the company’s intellectual property position, as it covers the use of DN-TNF compositions by peripheral administration for all diseases of the CNS,” said Joshua Schoonover, the company’s Associate General Counsel. “This patent is the product of real-life data using DN-TNF in both preclinical studies and the completed human Phase 1 study in Alzheimer’s Disease. DN-TNF crosses the BBB to decrease neuroinflammation, decrease neurodegeneration, improve synaptic function and promote myelin repair.”

XPro is administered to the patient once a week as a subcutaneous injection. XPro is different from currently approved TNF inhibitors because it blocks only soluble TNF and leaves trans-membrane TNF alone whereas existing TNF inhibitors block both forms of TNF. Because of this biologic precision, Xpro is not immunosuppressive and prevents demyelination.

“We believe that the unique mechanism of XPro makes it ideal to treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease,” said RJ Tesi MD, CEO of INmune Bio. “Because the drug is self-administered as a once-a-week subcutaneous injection, the patients or their care-givers can administer XPro at home.”

The company is developing XPro, a pegylated DN-TNF composition also known as pegipanermin for the treatment of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD), and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

INmune Bio, Inc. is a publicly traded, clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments that target the innate immune system to fight disease. INmune Bio has two product platforms that are both in clinical trials: The Dominant-Negative Tumor Necrosis Factor (DN-TNF) product platform utilizes dominant-negative technology to selectively neutralize soluble TNF, a key driver of innate immune dysfunction and a mechanistic driver of many diseases. DN-TNF product candidates are in clinical trials to determine if they can treat cancer (INB03™), Mild Alzheimer’s disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment and treatment-resistant depression (XPro). The Natural Killer Cell Priming Platform includes INKmune developed to prime a patient’s NK cells to eliminate minimal residual disease in patients with cancer. INmune Bio’s product platforms utilize a precision medicine approach for the treatment of a wide variety of hematologic and solid tumor malignancies, and chronic inflammation. For more information, visit www.inmunebio.com.