Capricor Therapeutics Inc (CAPR)

[CDut1]

Capricor Therapeutics Announces Acquisition of Intellectual Property Rights to Family of Natriuretic Peptides From Medtronic, Inc.

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 14, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Capricor Therapeutics, Inc. (CAPR), a biotechnology company focused on developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire patent rights from Medtronic, Inc. (MDT) relating to the formulation and pump delivery of natriuretic peptides. Capricor recently announced that it plans to develop a clinical program using Cenderitide, a natriuretic peptide, for the treatment of post-acute heart failure.

On October 8, 2014, Capricor entered into an intellectual property Transfer Agreement pursuant to which Medtronic has assigned to Capricor Therapeutics all of its right, title and interest in all natriuretic peptide patents and patent applications previously owned by Medtronic or co-owned by each of the companies as part of their collaborative natriuretic peptide delivery program.

Dr. Linda Marban, Chief Executive Officer of Capricor, said, "We are extremely pleased to announce the acquisition of these patent rights from Medtronic, as they could extend both the scope and the duration of patent protection for our natriuretic peptide platform. Most importantly, we are now in a position to initiate a clinical program for Cenderitide with an enhanced IP position and we look forward to announcing further milestones as they are achieved."

Dr. Marban continued, "There are currently no treatments on the market that specifically target the stabilization and reduction of the early re-hospitalization rate of acute decompensated heart failure patients. According to the American Heart Association, heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalization among adults older than 65 years of age in the United States and is responsible for over 1 million hospital admissions annually. Among those patients that have been admitted, approximately 24% are re-hospitalized in one month, and 50% are re-hospitalized in six months. This staggering statistic, coupled with the prevalence and incidence of heart failure increasing around the world, leads us to believe this could be an extremely exciting market opportunity for Capricor."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/capricor-therapeutics-announces-acquisition-intellectual-120000347.html