Arno Therapeutics, Inc. has received Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for two patent applications related to its lead oncology product candidate, onapristone. The first patent covers onapristone polymorph forms and methods of use, while the second covers diagnostic methods and systems for identifying and treating anti-progestin sensitive tumors. Collectively, the patents reinforce the intellectual property protecting onapristone.

These allowed polymorph and diagnostic patent applications, U.S. Application No. 14/203,814 and No. 13/644,872, respectively, are part of a larger patent portfolio owned or licensed by Arno Therapeutics.

Onapristone is an oral, anti-progestin hormone blocker that has been shown in previous Phase II clinical trials (not sponsored by Arno) to exhibit considerable anti-tumor activity in patients with breast cancer. In pre-clinical testing, onapristone has been shown to block the activation of PR, which is believed to be a mechanism that inhibits the growth of APR driven breast, endometrial and other gynecological tumors.