Fe Pharmaceuticals Announces Issuance of New U.S. Patent for Its Lead Product, DIBI

Fe Pharmaceuticals also Announces the Appointment of Dr. Trisha Ang as VP of R&D

Key Takeaways

  • Recently issued U.S. Patent No. 12,024,490, becomes the third issued US patent protecting DIBI, its related polymers and their use.
  • This US Patent on DIBI protects the use of DIBI to arrest growth of infectious pathogens and cancer cells including in combinations with other agents.
  • Dr. Trisha Ang who helped synthesize DIBI and create a manufacturing process is appointed VP of R&D succeeding Founder Dr. Bruce Holbein who passed in March 2024

July 23, 2024, Redwood City, CA, USA – Fe Pharmaceuticals, a pioneering biotech company focused on innovative treatments for infectious diseases, is pleased to announce that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued U.S. Patent No. 12,024,490, titled "Polymeric Metal Chelating Compositions and Methods of Preparing Same for Controlling Growth and Activities of Living Cells and Organisms for Therapeutic Use in Treating Diseases in Animals, Fish or Humans," on July 2, 2024. This is the third issued US patent protecting DIBI, related polymers, and their uses.

This patent covers the use of the company’s novel drug candidate, DIBI, and related polymers, to treat serious infections and cancer, by itself or in combination with other agents. DIBI’s unique polymeric iron chelating properties are designed to arrest growth of pathogenic infections by high affinity binding of extracellular iron, on which infectious organisms are dependent. DIBI represents a significant advancement in the therapeutic landscape, offering a non-antibiotic approach to controlling serious infections involving bacterial and fungal pathogens, including those that are antimicrobial resistant (AMR). Bacteria and fungi cause pneumonias, skin and tissue infections, urinary tract infections, and gastrointestinal infections, which lead to more than 80% of all sepsis cases. DIBI interrupts these infections without the risk of drug resistance emerging because there is no mechanism to become resistant to requiring iron.

Fe Pharmaceuticals also announces the appointment of Dr. Trisha Ang as VP of Research and Development. Dr. Ang succeeds the company founder, Dr. Bruce Holbein, who passed away earlier this year. Dr. Ang and Dr. Holbein were co-inventors on this patent. Since 2016, Dr. Ang has been the lead research chemist at Fe Pharmaceuticals and was directly involved with the synthesis of DIBI and the process for cGMP industrial-scale production. Dr. Ang received her Ph.D. degree in Chemistry at Queen’s University, Canada.

"This patent is a legacy of the work of our company’s founder, Dr. Bruce Holbein, who spent decades studying the connection between iron and disease”, said Dr. Michael Weickert, CEO of Fe Pharmaceuticals. “His years of collaboration with Dr. Trisha Ang, co-inventor on DIBI patents, made her an obvious choice to succeed him and we are delighted she agreed to join us as VP of Research and Development for Fe Pharmaceuticals”.

For more information:

Michael J. Weickert - CEO, Fe Pharmaceuticals

E: mweickert@fepharm.com

P: 650-218-1840

Website: https://fepharm.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fe-pharmaceuticals/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FePharm

Twitter: @ChelationPrtnrs; https://twitter.com/ChelationPrtnrs







About DIBI
DIBI is a non-toxic, iron-binding co-polymer with potent, broad-spectrum, antimicrobial activity against fungal and bacterial infections, including those caused by antimicrobial resistant (AMR) organisms. DIBI exploits the absolute requirement of pathogens for iron to grow and reproduce. DIBI scavenges only the circulating iron required for infections and not the iron inside host cells. DIBI is non-toxic, removes iron in a manner pathogens cannot become resistant to, is very broad spectrum and very potent against even drug-resistant pathogens like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Acinetobacter baumannii. In more than 20 peer-reviewed studies using animal models of infection, including of the ear, skin, lung, and systemic, it was effective against bacterial and fungal species, with synergistic benefits when administered with conventional anti-infective agents. In animal models of sepsis, DIBI acted synergistically with antibiotics to increase survival. 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. 

About Fe Pharmaceuticals
Fe Pharmaceuticals (Canada) is a Nova Scotia, Canada based company focused on medical indications related to iron availability, including infectious and inflammatory diseases and cancer. Fe Pharmaceuticals is a US subsidiary located in the San Francisco Bay area. Fe’s lead product candidate DI


Key Takeaways

  • Recently issued U.S. Patent No. 12,024,490, becomes the third issued US patent protecting DIBI, its related polymers and their use.
  • This US Patent on DIBI protects the use of DIBI to arrest growth of infectious pathogens and cancer cells including in combinations with other agents.
  • Dr. Trisha Ang who helped synthesize DIBI and create a manufacturing process is appointed VP of R&D succeeding Founder Dr. Bruce Holbein who passed in March 2024
Click Here
Download

Media Gallery

Quotes

“
This patent is a legacy of the work of our company’s founder, Dr. Bruce Holbein, who spent decades studying the connection between iron and disease...
Dr. Michael Weickert — CEO of Fe Pharmaceuticals

Related Bios

Michael J. Weickert, PhD
President, CEO and Chairman
Dr. Weickert has been developing drugs, devices and startup companies for 31 years, many in the anti-infective therapeutic area. He has co-founded and/or led startups as CEO of Pacylex Pharmaceuticals, illumiSonics, Sonescence, and SEA Medical Systems, CBO of Strategent Life Sciences, Corium, and Therashock, COO of Greenfire Bio and Ohm Oncology, VP of development at SciDose and Auspex. At startups, he raised Seed through Series C capital and established partnerships worth more than $180 Million. He has extensive experience developing anti-infectives, as CEO of Sonescence, a Phase 2 stage drug delivery startup addressing skin and soft tissue infections including involving MRSA, as Senior Program Executive at Nektar where he set up an anti-infectives business unit and directed the flagship anti-infective product from inception through Phase 2, as CBO of Therashock developing a new theory and therapy for sepsis, and as an advisor or consultant for companies like Pulmatrix, Taris, and Lightline. Michael has prepared over 40 business plans including for the Nobel Prize winner Dr. Luc Montagnier and has driven product development from pre-clinical through Phase III/NDA. He obtained Orphan Drug and Fast Track designations for anti-infective products in the US and EU. Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, he was at the National Cancer Institute at NIH. He received his Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin.
View Full Bio>>
Andrew Heaton
PhD, COO
Dr. Heaton brings a 30-year career in pharmaceutical discovery, development, and translational studies. He serves as CSO to the Cure JM Foundation, and most recently served as the CEO and President of Heaton-Brown Life Sciences and Novogen North America. Dr. Heaton, ushered several oncology compounds from the laboratory through Phase I, II and III clinical trials. He was also a board member at joint venture start-up with Yale, CanTx. Dr. Heaton is the senior author on over 100, globally granted-patents, covering a wide range of molecular architectures and diseases and has published multiple papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Dr. Heaton received his doctorate from James Cook University of North Queensland, his MBA from Melbourne Business School, and completed a sabbatical at Imperial College, London.
View Full Bio>>
Trisha Ang
VP, R&D
Dr. Ang has over 10 years’ experience in synthetic chemistry. Since 2016, Trisha has been the lead research chemist and directly involved with the synthetic aspects for streamlining the DIBI polymer process for cGMP industrial-scale production. Her work improved the yield and safety profile of the synthesis of DIBI’s critical metal chelating monomer leading to an unprecedented 74% process improvement by developing a two-step synthesis from originally five steps. Dr. Ang is co-inventor to a corresponding 2017 patent (WO2018035613A1). Trisha has also been project manager at Chelation Partners Inc. and on other independent research projects. Dr. Ang earned a master’s degree at the University of Toronto and received her Ph.D. degree in chemistry at Queen’s University.
View Full Bio>>

Contacts

Michael Weickert Ph.D
mweickert@fepharm.com
650-218-1840
Chief Executive Officer