Cambridge, MA — Epizyme, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company creating innovative personalized therapeutics for patients with genetically defined cancers, announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted a notice of allowance for U.S. Patent Application No. 13/722,807 with claims that cover methods of treating cancer with EZH2 inhibitors. The patent, entitled “Aryl-or Heteroaryl-Substituted Benzene Compounds,” will expire in 2033.
“We continue to build and strengthen our intellectual property position, an important element of our overall product strategy,” said Zoran Zdraveski Ph.D., J.D., Chief Patent Counsel, Epizyme. “When issued, this patent will cover claims directed to methods of treating cancer, including non-Hodgkin, follicular and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, with small molecule EZH2 inhibitors including EPZ-6438.”
Epizyme’s small molecule inhibitor of EZH2, EPZ-6438 (E7438), is currently being developed in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in patients with advanced solid tumors or relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphoma. In 2014, Epizyme plans to initiate two proof of concept studies with EPZ-6438, pending Phase 1 completion, one in non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients with EZH2 point mutations and one in synovial sarcoma patients. EPZ-6438 is being developed in collaboration with Eisai Inc.