IRLAB Therapeutics AB (STO:IRLAB-A), a Swedish developer of new treatments for Parkinson's disease, said on Tuesday that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the US Patent and Trademark Office for its drug candidate IRL1117, with patent protection expected to extend into the early 2040s.

This allowance covers patent application 18/858,955 and confirms approval for grant, subject to completion of administrative formalities, strengthening the candidate's intellectual property protection in the US pharmaceutical market.

IRLAB aims to develop IRL1117 as a once-daily oral treatment for Parkinson's disease that avoids complications associated with the current standard therapy, levodopa. CEO Kristina Torfgård said the decision significantly increases the project's commercial value.

The company is preparing the preclinical safety and toxicology studies required to initiate the candidate's first human clinical trial, Phase I/Ib.