Press Releases

FibroGen, Inc., announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences handed down a decision in the interference between U.S. Patent No. 6,855,510, assigned to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and licensed to FibroGen (“Kaelin”), and the pending U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 10/472,595, assigned to Isis Innovation Ltd, and sublicensed to Amgen, Inc. (“Maxwell”). The Kaelin patent covers assays for identifying small molecule inhibitors of Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF) prolyl hydroxylase and methods for treating HIF-related disorders using HIF technology. 

All of the involved claims of the Maxwell application were held unpatentable by a panel of three Administrative Patent Judges. The interference was first suggested by Maxwell in September 2005 and was formally declared by the Board in December 2007. In its recent decision, the Board entered a judgment on priority against Maxwell, stating that Maxwell provoked the interference on the basis of claims not properly supported by its application, and that Maxwell was unable to present a patentable claim. In addition, the Board granted Kaelin's motion that Maxwell's claims were unpatentable for lack of written description and lack of enablement.

“We are pleased that the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences has considered and resolved the outstanding issues with respect to the patent protecting this fundamental invention,” said Thomas B. Neff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FibroGen. “With respect to therapeutic applications, we are encouraged by the Board’s recognition of the pioneering nature of Drs. Kaelin and Ivan’s contributions to the field of HIF technology.”

The first planned commercial application of the selective HIF activation technology is in the area of treatment of anemia of chronic kidney disease. FibroGen has Phase 2 clinical studies underway.

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Contact:

Melissa Koomey, Vice President, Marketing, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations, 415-978-1430 or mkoomey@fibrogen.com.