Ziccum has progressed to the filing of three PCT patent applications, following up on a series of European patent applications as part of a stronger IP strategy. The PCT filings come on the heels of PC (Paris Convention) filings last year, according to the well-established practice, to ensure comprehensive geographic protection of Ziccum’s intellectual property. The specific Ziccum strategy is a multi-layered approach to cover and protect the full range of Ziccum’s innovations, with three key PCT applications as follows.

1) ‘SYSTEMS FOR DRYING OF COMPOSITIONS AND RELATED METHODS’
covering updated equipment for LaminarPace TM drying
The largest effort is the application covering new equipment configuration in the LaminarPaceTM drying unit. Not only is the current PCT filing covering recent modifications in design, enabling higher nebulization rates providing a significantly higher production capacity, but now also covering a vast number of additional principle modifications and fine adjustments performed during years of development of the LaminarPaceTM unit at Ziccum. The application contains a large number of new claims.

2) ‘DRYING OF COMPOSITIONS’
covering optimized parameters for LaminarPace TM drying
The application regarding the parameters used for optimal LaminarPaceTM drying, based on valuable learnings in the on-going work in internal trials, is an important extra level of protection and secures the Ziccum position carrying unique knowledge of how to apply the LaminarPaceTM technology for the best pharmaceutical product quality and attributes.

3) ‘NANOPARTICLE FORMULATIONS’
covering formulations that are optimized for LaminarPace TM drying
This application covers a number of aspects of Ziccum’s formulation expertise. Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) is the preferred formulation type in the booming field of (m)RNA development for new therapeutics and vaccines. Ziccum announced very good applicability for LaminarPaceTM in the mRNA field during 2023, followed by a partnered study and the first animal study in early 2024, confirming excellent results with high preservation of mRNA activity both in-vitro and in-vivo. The company has gained extensive knowledge in the complex LNP formulation field. The patent application covers these strong data sets as well as formulation knowledge also in a broader sense.

Ziccum CEO Ann Gidner: “Ziccum has generated an impressive amount of data in the recent year, now strongly underpinning these next stage applications. We are proud to complement our 2023 patent efforts with such solid additional input, and grateful to be protecting many years of equipment development as well. Robust IP is at the heart of a technology platform company, protecting our innovations and enabling our licensing”.

About PCT patent applications:
Applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty are filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization, allowing for a single international patent application and, thus, simplifying the process of international search and preliminary examination. Having more than 150 contracting states, PCT is widely recognized not only for effective international patent protection, but also for efficiency, eliminating the need for filing numerous costly applications with individual countries and navigating multiple jurisdictional settings.