ARCA biopharma Enters into rNAPc2 COVID-19 Patent Assignment Agreement

ARCA will receive exclusive worldwide patent rights to the use of rNAPc2 as a potential treatment for COVID-19 and other indications.

FREMONT, CA: ARCA biopharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, recently announced entering into a patent assignment agreement with Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz’s University Medical Center. ARCA will receive exclusive worldwide patent rights to the use of rNAPc2 as a potential treatment for COVID-19 and other indications, based on research and discoveries from the laboratory of University Prof. Dr. Wolfram Ruf, Scientific Director, and Alexander von Humboldt Professor at the University Medical Center Mainz’s Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis (CTH).

Prof. Dr. Ruf commented, “We believe our research, combined with the accumulating evidence on the clinical importance of large and small vessel thromboses in COVID-19 infected patients, points to a potentially important role for the tissue factor pathway in viral infection, inflammatory response and the development of coagulopathy. Based on its unique modulation of the tissue factor pathway and the evidence from its prior development, we believe rNAPc2 has the potential to be a beneficial therapy for patients with COVID-19.”

ARCA is developing rNAPc2, a recombinant protein therapy, as a potential treatment for COVID-19 and other critical viral infections. ASPEN-COVID-19 is a Phase 2b clinical trial that is examining rNAPc2 as a potential treatment for COVID-19 patients. The exploration of rNAPc2 as a possible COVID-19 treatment has been classified as a Fast Track development program by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“We are delighted to continue our collaboration with Dr. Ruf and the researchers at the University Medical Center Mainz to advance the development of rNAPc2 as a potential treatment for patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Despite the availability of vaccines and with the emergence of multiple variants, patients around the world continue to experience severe cases of COVID-19 that require hospitalization. We believe rNAPc2s combination of anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties give it the potential to be effective in addressing the impact of COVID-19 from multiple pathways. As a potential therapeutic aimed at a host response to a disease syndrome, we believe rNAPc2 has therapeutic potential to be used for future viral outbreaks beyond the current pandemic, even as safe and effective vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 are successfully deployed,” said Dr. Michael Bristow, President, and Chief Executive Officer, ARCA.

Under the agreement with the University Medical Center Mainz, ARCA also acquires an option to acquire worldwide patent rights to discoveries about the use of rNAPc2 as a potential therapeutic for auto-immune disorders like systemic lupus erythematosus, that involve the presence of anti-phospholipid antibodies connected to tissue factor, and the option to acquire patent rights for discoveries attributed to other therapeutic uses of rNAPc2. Under the Agreement, ARCA has prospective upfront and milestone obligations that could total roughly ‚1.6 million and royalty obligations in the low single-digit range if rNAPc2 receives regulatory approval and is commercialized.