Chemeq earns new patents, readies for Feb production

Perth-based pharmaceutical company Chemeq (ASX:CMQ) has announced that patents on its polymeric molecules to control microbial diseases in livestock have been approved in the US, Europe, Eurasia and China.

Chemeq CEO Dr Graham Melrose said the patents gave Chemeq additional monopolies in the manufacture and marketing of its proprietary polymeric anti-microbial molecules, which are initially targeted at the global pig and poultry markets.

In addition to the key US patent, the approvals give Chemeq more than 25 additional patents in individual countries in Europe and Eurasia, including the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Russia, with expiry dates between 2016 and 2020.

Chemeq CFO Adam Deane said the company expected to begin manufacturing its novel antimicrobial in its new plant in Perth in February.

Deane said advance orders from South Africa's pig industry already amounted to 20 per cent of the market, a response he described as "amazing".

He said that when production began in February, the company would be able to produce enough of the antimicrobial agent to sent to the US for testing -- the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires new drugs to be tested on US soil before approving them.

The FDA has already fast-tracked Chemeq's antimicrobial through its regulatory process because of its potential to replace the antibiotics currently used to control bacterial diseases in the pig and poultry diseases.

Research has convincingly linked the administration of antibiotics to livestock as growth promoters to the transfer of antibiotic-resistance genes to pathogenic bacteria in humans. Chemeq's molecule has a mode of action that makes it virtually impossible for bacteria to evolve resistance.

Chemeq is currently awaiting approval from Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration to market the product to Australia's livestock industries.

The FDA recently announced that it would review its current regulatory approvals for all livestock antibiotics used in the US, with the aim of developing more stringent guidelines on their veterinary use, aimed at minimising the risk of human antibiotics being rendered ineffective by resistant strains of bacteria.