LONDON (ShareCast) - Drug developer Immupharma has improved the patent protection of its Nucant cancer treatments.

Immupharma said the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted a notice of allowance for an "optically pure" version of its Nucant family.

A similar grant has been obtained from the European Union, Japanese and Australian patent offices.

The new patent gives Immupharma longer exclusivity and extra, stronger protection of its Nucant programme and stops rivals from working in an area covering millions of peptide constructs.

It also expands potential uses to include angiogenesis-related conditions such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and wound healing as well as cancer selective targeting systems.

President and Chief Scientific Officer Robert Zimmer said: "This broadens the company's pipeline and takes us in exciting new areas."

Immupharma shares rose 2.5p or 5.4% to 49p in early trading in London.

PW

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