Zolaris BioSciences of Bozeman, MT Announces Issuance of Patent for Stabilized Bioactive Peptides

Zolaris BioSciences, LLC http://www.zolarisbiosciences.com announced today that the United States Patent Office has granted Patent No. 6,818,611, entitled "Stabilized bioactive peptides and methods of identification, synthesis and use" to the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. Zolaris, headquartered in Bozeman, Montana, is the exclusive licensee of worldwide rights to the technology disclosed in this patent.

http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news/article_510236.html

(Thanks to the Montana Chamber of Commerce for passing this along and Congratulations to the team at Zolaris! – Russ)

Zolaris is currently developing peptides that have significantly improved half-lives using their peptide fusion technology, as disclosed in this patent. This "anchoring" fusion approach allows for the development of more stabile peptides that can be used across a broad range of applications. The company has ongoing discussions with several biopharmaceutical companies regarding development and marketing rights for this technology in the US and Europe.

Dr. Elliot Altman, Director of Research and Development, stated, "We are pleased to finally be able to share with the biopharma world our unique protein fusion approach for greatly enhancing the therapeutic value of peptides that are in development and currently marketed. This invention will facilitate the development of improved peptide drugs with better efficacy, side effects, and/or dosing for the treatment of a variety of diseases."

The market for recombinant proteins has grown dramatically over the past few years, and so too has the market for peptides and small proteins (<100 amino acids). The largest peptide market at present is represented by insulin, but also includes human growth hormone, various fertility hormones, and recent clinical advances such as the osteoporosis drug Forteo and the heart failure product Natrecor. The current market for peptides and small proteins is around US$10 billion and this is expected to double by 2009. Beyond 2009, it is likely that the market will experience even greater growth as issues of stability are addressed and peptide mimetics of large proteins become a reality.Zolaris is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the research and development of highly stable peptide drugs in order to provide better medicines. Additional information about Zolaris is available at http://www.zolarisbiosciences.com.For more information, please contact:Kim Bonnell, Manager of Corporate Communications, Zolaris BioSciences LLCTelephone -- +1-406-587-8883Email: [email protected]Web site: http://www.zolarisbiosciences.com