Swedish clinical stage cell and gene therapy company Elicera Therapeutics AB (STO:ELIC) announced on Wednesday that the Japan Patent Office has issued a Notice of Allowance for its patent application covering the CAR T-cell candidate ELC-401.

Once granted, the patent can be maintained in force until 2041.

The patent protects Elicera's proprietary antibodies targeting IL-13Ra2, a protein commonly overexpressed on cancer cells, particularly in brain tumours, and covers their use in CAR T-cell therapies. It grants Elicera exclusive rights in Japan to develop and commercialise treatments based on these anti-IL-13Ra2 antibodies and related technologies.

ELC-401 is designed to target IL-13Ra2-positive tumours, including glioblastoma, while leveraging the iTANK gene technology platform to activate immune responses against additional tumour antigens. Glioblastoma is the most aggressive primary brain tumour, with a median survival of approximately 15 months despite standard therapies.

The patent strengthens protection for ELC-401 and supports the development of future products using the same approach.