TWi Biotechnology Receives Patent Allowance for Its Lead Drug Candidate AC-201 in China .

TAIPEI, Taiwan, May 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- TWi Biotechnology, Inc. today announced that it has received an official notification of patent allowance for AC-201, TWi Biotechnology's lead drug candidate, from China State Intellectual Property Office of Patent. The granted patent claims cover AC-201's composition of matter and uses to treat various inflammatory, autoimmune diseases such as Type I/II diabetes, osteoarthritis and the complications of these diseases. The patent is part of TWi Biotechnology's broad intellectual property portfolio for AC-201. "We are very pleased with the issuance of this patent in China for AC-201," said Dr. Calvin C. Chen, President of TWi Biotechnology. "This patent issuance provides TWi Biotechnology the intellectual property protection for AC-201 in a market that is experiencing remarkable growth and of which we intend to capitalize on.AC-201 has demonstrated its efficacy of reducing HbA1c levels in type 2 diabetic patients in two phase II clinical trials. TWi Biotechnology will be presenting the results of a 259-patients multinational phase IIb study in the upcoming ADA conference (American Diabetes Association 73rd Scientific Sections) in Chicago, USA."

About AC-201 AC-201 is a first-in-class, orally available small molecule which has shown the ability to inhibit the production and activity of the cytokine IL-1Beta and to down-regulate the IL-1Beta receptors. Inhibition of IL-1Beta signaling has been demonstrated to be effective in treating a variety of diseases including arthritis and diabetic mellitus (DM). The active ingredient of AC-201 has been approved for treating patients with chronic rheumatic diseases in France and subsequently in other EU and Middle Eastern countries such as Spain and Italy since mid-1990. TWi Biotechnology holds two US INDs for AC-201 -- one for controlling blood glucose in type 2 diabetic patients and the other for gout flare prevention in patients under urate-lowering therapy. In addition to the good safety record of its active ingredient used in treating another chronic disease, AC-201 has gone through several human clinical trials including two phase II trials with 6 months treatment period with satisfied safety profile.

About Type 2 Diabetes Diabetes is one of the most common metabolic diseases worldwide. According to a June 2011 Lancet publication by Danaei and colleagues, the number of adult diagnosed with diabetes worldwide in 2008 is a staggering 347 million and this number is expected to rise to 472 million by 2030.World Health Organization (WHO) has defined type 2 diabetes as results of the body's ineffective use of insulin. Type 2 diabetes comprises 90% of people with diabetes around the world, and is largely caused by excess body weight and physical inactivity. The American Diabetes Association estimated that in 2012, the total cost associated with diabetes in US was US$245 billion of which US$176 billion was direct medical cost while US$69 billion was loss due to reduced productivity.