SAN JOSE, Calif., July 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Anixa Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANIX), a biotechnology company focused on the treatment and prevention of cancer and infectious diseases, today announced that the European Patent Office has issued an Intention to Grant notice for the first European patent covering Anixa's novel CAR-T cancer treatment technology, which has been licensed from The Wistar Institute and is being developed at the Moffitt Cancer Center. 

The patent is titled "METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TREATING CANCER," and the inventors are Drs. Jose Conejo-Garcia and Alfredo Perales-Puchalt.  Dr. Conejo-Garcia is the Chair of the Department of Immunology at Moffitt Cancer Center and Dr. Alfredo Perales-Puchalt, formerly of The Wistar Institute, is currently Vice President of R&D at Geneos Therapeutics.  The patent is assigned to The Wistar Institute and Anixa Biosciences' majority-owned subsidiary, Certainty Therapeutics, Inc., is the exclusive, world-wide licensee.

Dr. Amit Kumar, President and CEO of Anixa Biosciences, stated, "We are pleased to receive this notification from the European Patent Office (EPO), and the protection this groundbreaking technology will have throughout the European Union, in addition to the existing patents in the United States.  Our CAR-T cancer technology takes advantage of specific hormone–hormone receptor biology to address malignancies and may hold promise to be the first successful CAR-T therapy against solid tumors.  While our initial focus is the treatment of ovarian cancer, the technology covered by the patent is broad and may also be effective in treating other solid tumors by exploiting an anti-angiogenesis mechanism of action."

"Protecting intellectual property is critical for the advancement of new therapies, such as our CAR-T technology, which has been exclusively licensed to Anixa's subsidiary, Certainty Therapeutics.  As a minority shareholder of Certainty, we are looking forward to continued advancement of the therapy into the clinic where we hope this will help many cancer patients," said Heather Steinman, PhD, MBA, Vice President of Business Development at The Wistar Institute. 

About Anixa Biosciences, Inc.
Anixa is a publicly-traded biotechnology company developing a number of programs addressing cancer and infectious disease.  Anixa's therapeutic portfolio includes a cancer immunotherapy program which uses a novel type of CAR-T, known as chimeric endocrine receptor T-cell (CER-T) technology, and a Covid-19 therapeutics program focused on inhibiting certain viral protein function.  The company's vaccine portfolio consists of a technology focused on the immunization against α-Lactalbumin to prevent triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).  Anixa continually examines emerging technologies in complementary fields for further development and commercialization.  Additional information is available at www.anixa.com.

About The Wistar Institute
The Wistar Institute is an international leader in biomedical research with special expertise in cancer research and vaccine development.  Founded in 1892 as the first independent nonprofit biomedical research institute in the United States, Wistar has held the prestigious Cancer Center designation from the National Cancer Institute since 1972.  The Institute works actively to ensure that research advances move from the laboratory to the clinic as quickly as possible.  wistar.org

Forward-Looking Statements:  Statements that are not historical fact may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but rather reflect Anixa's current expectations concerning future events and results.  We generally use the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "likely," "will" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements.  Such forward-looking statements, including those concerning our expectations, involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our control, which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  These risks, uncertainties and factors include, but are not limited to, those factors set forth in "Item 1A - Risk Factors" and other sections of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.  We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.  You are cautioned not to unduly rely on such forward-looking statements when evaluating the information presented in this press release. 

Anixa contact:
Mike Catelani
mcatelani@anixa.com 
408-708-9808

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