Chelation Partners Announces Issuance of U.S. Patent Covering Composition of Matter for DIBI and Related Compounds for Controlling Infections

U.S. Pat. No. 10,709,784 was issued on July 14, 2020 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the composition of matter of metal chelating polymers

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Chelation Partners, a Canadian company focused on medical indications related to iron availability including infectious disease, cancer and inflammatory disorders, announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) issued U.S. Pat. No. 10,709,784 on July 14, 2020 relating to DIBI, its lead infection control product.

Chelation’s patent is directed to the composition of matter of DIBI, a novel, water soluble, iron binding polymer, as well as other related compounds, and their use in treating diseases including as an antimicrobial agent, an anti-metabolite agent, an anti-viral agent, an anti-parasitic agent and an anti-cancer agent. The U.S. patent is not expected to expire before Jan 21, 2034 including the 593 days of patent term adjustment. This patent has already issued in Australia and Japan and is pending elsewhere, and is the first of several U.S. and international patents filed on DIBI and related compounds to issue.

The vulnerability of modern infectious disease medicine to the development of resistance to chemotherapeutic anti-infective agents is well known. But a paradox has emerged where new medications so desperately needed are withheld and used only as last line agents to prevent overuse leading to resistance. This in turn leads to economic failure and bankruptcy of companies developing new agents. Most large pharmaceutical companies have also withdrawn from this area due to this paradox where great need is accompanied by insufficient reward. Executive Chairman Michael Weickert, PhD remarked, “DIBI is a unique, broad spectrum, anti-infective agent immune to the development of drug resistance, overcoming the limitations of other anti-infective approaches and breaking this paradox. We hope to see it usher in a new approach to infectious disease.”

Dr. Weickert also commented, “The grant of the first US Patent for the company’s fundamental technology platform and key medical applications is an important milestone reflecting many years of work and research. It provides an essential ingredient for our next step, commercial development.”

The company is pursuing early entry into clinical development to investigate potential benefits in COVID-19 patients as well as planning a clinical development program in sepsis and drug resistant infections like MRSA.

DIBI

DIBI is a non-toxic, iron-binding co-polymer with potent, broad-spectrum, antimicrobial activity against parasitic, fungal, bacterial and viral infections, including those caused by drug resistant organisms. DIBI exploits the absolute requirement of pathogens for iron in order to grow and reproduce. DIBI scavenges the iron required for infections, yet is non-toxic. It has single µM MICs (minimal inhibitory concentration) for bacteria and fungi as demonstrated in published models of infection, and synergistic benefits when administered with conventional anti-infective agents. In animal models of sepsis, DIBI also down-regulated excess cytokine release and promoted survival, acting synergistically with antibiotics. DIBI is being considered for development as a treatment of COVID-19 patients with sepsis or secondary infections as DIBI can attenuate inflammatory sepsis and also suppress secondary infections in animal models. DIBI also synergizes with antibiotics in a variety of published animal models of infectious diseases.    

About Chelation Partners

Chelation Partners is a Nova Scotia, Canada company focused on medical indications related to iron availability including infectious disease, cancer and others. Chelation’s lead product candidate DIBI fits the ideal product profile for an anti-pathogen agent; DIBI is non-toxic, removes iron in manner pathogens cannot circumvent, inhibits pathogen growth, enhances vulnerability to other pathogen-specific agents, is very broad spectrum and very potent, with single µM MICs against even drug resistant pathogens like MRSA and Acinetobacter baumannii. Multiple peer-review studies demonstrate DIBI’s effectiveness against bacterial and fungal pathogens in various animal models. Iron sequestration has applications in other diseases and in published cancer research, DIBI inhibits cancer cell growth and acts as a strong sensitizer to conventional chemotherapy.