Merrion Pharmaceuticals Issued a Key United States Patent

DUBLIN, IRELAND - Merrion Pharmaceuticals plc, an international specialty pharmaceutical company, announced in a press release the issuance of United States Patent No. 7,658,938, "Solid Oral Dosage Form Containing an Enhancer."

This patent covers the Company’s GIPET enhancer system used with the bisphosphonate class of drugs. A patent covering the GIPET technology including its use with bisphosphonates has been previously granted in Europe.

John Lynch, Merrion’s chief executive officer commented “This is a significant development for Merrion’s GIPET technology. The continued growth of our patent estate, further establishes us as one of the leading companies in this space."

“Merrion’s GIPET technology has been validated in several products, demonstrating that we deliver real value to patients and healthcare providers. For example, Orazol, our lead pipeline product, showed excellent results in a Phase IIb study published at last year’s meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). This US patent is another step towards achieving our overall vision.”

The enhancers covered by the patent have the ability to enhance oral absorption many fold compared to standard formulations. This technology can therefore be used to enable oral (tablet) administration of compounds that are normally administered only as injectables, usually in hospital or clinic settings. Efficacy, safety and side effect profiles of drugs can be improved substantially using this delivery technology.

In addition the new products developed have potential for very significant Quality of Life improvements for patients and substantial economic improvements for hard pressed healthcare systems.