ProQR Achieves Successful Defense of New Challenge to its Axiomer IP Portfolio

LEIDEN, Netherlands & CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ProQR Therapeutics N.V. (Nasdaq: PRQR) (ProQR), a company dedicated to changing lives through transformative RNA therapies, today announced it has again successfully defended against opposition filed against a key patent for its ADAR-mediated RNA editing platform Axiomer.

The opposition was filed in June 2021 with the European Patent Office (EPO) by a strawman against ProQR’s granted patent EP 3 507 366 B1, which relates to editing oligonucleotides that have certain chemical modifications in the base and/or ribose sugar to increase stability and recruit endogenous ADAR to edit the target adenosine. This patent is part of ProQR’s intellectual property estate surrounding its Axiomer RNA editing platform and the current generation of its molecules. The Opposition Division of the EPO held a public hearing on April 17, 2024, and ruled such that ProQR’s strong IP position on chemically modified editing oligonucleotides was maintained.

The patent contains broad platform claims including: “An antisense oligonucleotide (AON) capable of forming a double stranded complex with a target RNA sequence in a cell, preferably a human cell, for the deamination of a target adenosine in the target RNA sequence by an ADAR enzyme present in the cell…”, which protects ProQR’s proprietary ADAR mediated RNA editing platform Axiomer.

“This decision further supports the confidence we have in the broad scope conferred by our IP estate protecting our proprietary Axiomer ADAR-mediated RNA editing technology platform, and the use of chemically modified oligonucleotides to increase stability and recruit endogenous ADAR to edit the target adenosine,” said René Beukema, Chief Corporate Development Officer and General Counsel. “Given the importance and value of our IP portfolio, we intend to continue to defend against such challenges and remain confident in our leading position, as we progress our science, platform, and pipeline.”

ProQR invented the use of endogenous ADAR in RNA editing in 2014 and filed a first patent application in that same year. Since then, ProQR has filed multiple additional patent applications on further improvements to form a leading patent estate that supports ProQR’s ADAR-mediated RNA editing platform Axiomer. Today ProQR has extensive patent protection related to the Axiomer RNA editing platform, including 15 published patent families, that currently comprise a total of 28 patents. Beyond this, ProQR has several unpublished patent applications and continuously invests in expanding its IP estate around ADAR-mediated RNA editing.