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Solagran Limited
Solagran Limited
ACN 002 592 396
Level 11
492 St Kilda Road
Melbourne 3004
Victoria
Australia
Tel 61 3 9820 2699
Fax 61 3 9820 3155
8 January, 2008
Company Announcement
Patents Awarded for Treatment of Alzheimer’s and Alcoholism
The Directors of Solagran Limited are pleased to announce the award of the world’s first
patents protecting the use of plant polyprenols in the treatment of conditions involving
physical, psychological and neurological degeneration.
The first of two patents awarded relates to the use of Ropren and its active ingredient
Bioeffective® R in the treatment of memory decline and dementia, including Alzheimer’s
disease.
The second patent awarded relates to the use of Ropren in the treatment of conditions
arising from long term addiction to both alcohol and drugs. These conditions involve major
changes to personality, as well as severe degeneration of the body, the brain and the
nervous system.
Both patents are comprehensive in nature. They cover the active ingredient, the therapeutic
substance based on the active ingredient, its pharmaceutical composition, and the method of
treatment. They were awarded by the Russian Agency for Patents and Trademarks, and
provide excellent intellectual property protection with a priority date of 23 May 2007.
Under the international Patent Convention Treaty (PCT), Solagran can now obtain patent
protection in whatever countries it considers necessary to protect this intellectual property.
Securing these two patents provides clear confirmation of the multi-faceted nature of Ropren.
It is not only effective in treating chronic liver disease. It is also effective in treating neurodegeneration
and addiction.
The patent for the treatment of memory decline and dementia has arisen as a result of the
findings of research and trials undertaken in St Petersburg at the I.M. Sechanov Institute of
Evolutionary Physiology and at the Skvortsova Stepanova Psychiatric Hospital, as well as in
Melbourne at the Brain Sciences Institute within Swinburne University. Some findings from
each set of trials have already been released. Solagran and its research collaborators can
now publish further details of this research in the appropriate journals.
The patent for the treatment of conditions associated with chronic alcoholism and drug
addiction has stemmed from the results of trials with critical and seriously ill heroin-addicted
chronic alcoholics conducted at the Skvortsova Stepanova Psychiatric Hospital. Due to the
need to keep this information secret while patents were obtained, the results of these trials
have not yet been released to the market. With intellectual property now secured, a
summary containing some of the major findings can now be released. Full details will be
published in due course in the appropriate journals.
The Board will now decide on the countries in which patent protection will be sought.
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The Directors believe that the award of these two patents has very significant commercial
implications for the company. They provide a solid foundation for a wider trials program
related to Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, as well as conditions
associated with drug and alcohol addiction. The worldwide commercial potential of an
effective treatment for these conditions is enormous.
Although further specific trials are planned, the fact that Ropren has already been entered in
the Russian Pharmacopoeia means that it can be used for these conditions at the discretion
of the treating clinician as soon as it is available commercially. Dr Nina Petrovna Golovkina
of the Skvortsova Stepanova Psychiatric Hospital made it clear to shareholders when she
addressed the EGM in September 2007, that her hospital would be using Ropren to treat
alcoholics, drug addicts and patients with neuro-degenerative disorders, as soon as it was
available.
Peter Stedwell
Company Secretary
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Solagran Limited