- Comments that Claim 1 of the US Patent N° 9,181,527 was invalidated by USPTO are false and misleading.
- The Patent N° 9,181,527 was issued on November 10, 2015 despite third party observations during an examination procedure.
- An anonymous third party has requested the USPTO to re-examine Claim 1 of the patent. As is usual in such cases, the USPTO has granted the request and has now asked Celyad to file a response.
- Awaiting a final decision by USPTO, Celyad’s patent remains valid and enforceable.
Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium – Celyad (Euronext Brussels and Paris, and NASDAQ: CYAD), a leader in the discovery and development of engineered cell therapies, notes false and misleading information communicated by Dr. André Choulika, CEO of Cellectis, during a shareholders meeting held in Paris on October 27th. The comments concerned US patent 9,181,527, relating to allogeneic human primary T-Cells that are engineered to be T-Cell Receptor (TCR)-deficient and express a Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR). Amongst other false statements, it was stated that claim 1 was invalidated. This is incorrect.
Information about Celyad’s patent ongoing procedure:
- Celyad was granted a Patent N° 9,181,527 on November, 10, 2015, that covers allogeneic human primary T-Cells that are engineered to be T-Cell Receptor (TCR)-deficient and express a Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR).
- A Request for Ex Parte Re-examination was filed on February 10, 2016 and order granting Ex Parte Re-examination was issued by the USPTO on March 24, 2016.
- An order granting a request for re-examination is not a determination by the USPTO that the claims are unpatentable or unenforceable but a routine step in a re-examination proceeding. Indeed in more than 90 % of all cases, a request for re-examination is followed by a decision by the USPTO to re-examine the patent and to invite the patent owner to file a reply
- Celyad has prepared a robust response on the patentability argument raised by the third party and a hearing with an examiner of the USPTO has been scheduled.
- Ongoing re-examination proceedings have no effect on the validity of a granted patent. Statements that Claim 1 of the US Patent N° 9,181,527 was invalidated by USPTO are therefore false and misleading.
Dr. Christian Homsy, CEO of Celyad, commented, “We regret inappropriate and misleading comments have been made concerning our patent in a public forum. We believe the comments are defamatory and baseless. The process around our patent is clear and we remain confident in our position. Celyad has continuously stated that its objective is to help bring treatment options to patients. We have therefore offered our competitors access to this patent and will continue to do so.”
Georges Rawadi, VP Business Development at Celyad, added: “Patent N° 9,181,527 remains valid and applicable during the ongoing reexamination procedure. Celyad believes this is a fundamental patent in the CAR-T industry field and holds great value.”
