Sirona Biochem skin lightening technology granted patent in Africa

22-Jul-2015 - Last updated on 23-Jul-2015 at 10:34 GMT

Sirona Biochem has been granted a patent in Africa for its skin lightening technology specific to TFC-849 and more global patents have been targeted.

The patent entitled ‘Family of aryl, heteroaryl, o-aryl and o-heteroaryl carbasugars’ has been granted by the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (composed of 19 African countries) and the patent office of South Africa.

The patent is one of seven owned by Sirona’s subsidiary, TFChem, and covers the skin lightening technology specific to TFC-849 as well as the SGLT2 Inhibitor, which targets diabetes.

More patents on the way

The company is also in the process of being granted a patent by the European Patent Office and the patent office of Singapore. Sirona Biochem says the process is proceeding without any known obstacles in the final regions.

“Our patents are what protect our inventions and intellectual property. They are key assets of the company and we are thrilled with the ease we’ve had in the review and granting processes,” says Dr Howard Verrico, CEO.

“We are confident we’ll have the same success for this patent family in other countries, such as: China, USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, India and Japan and we’ll continue to grow our IP portfolio with technology advancements.”

Sirona Biochem’s TFC-849 skin lightening compound was originally developed by the firm’s scientists in France to meet the growing trend for lighter skin in many parts of the world, with the global skin lightening market is expected to reach $20 Billion by 2020.

Anti-ageing compound

Sirona also announces that its early stage patent application for the second generation of glycoprotein compounds, which includes its anti-ageing and regenerative medicine compound SBM-TFC-837, has obtained a favourable international search report and written opinion from the international searching authority.

A favourable search indicates that there were no similar inventions, which would block the patent from being granted.

Sirona says these compounds have a wide range of potential commercial applications, with the global anti-ageing market expected to reach $345.8 billion in 2018.