Verseon announced that the USPTO has issued a new patent, "Thrombin Inhibitors, Formulations, and Uses Thereof," that further extends intellectual property protection for Verseon's novel class of thrombin inhibitors. These anticoagulant compounds promise to open new and safer treatment options for many of the world's 400+ million cardiovascular disease patients. Patients with cardiovascular disease are often at risk of strokes and heart attacks and would likely benefit from lifelong use of an anticoagulant, either alone or in combination with an antiplatelet drug.

Unfortunately, the bleeding risk posed by all anticoagulants currently on the market is high when these drugs are used by themselves - and typically unacceptable when used together with blood-thinning antiplatelet drugs. Unlike current anticoagulants, Verseon's Precision Oral Anticoagulants (PROACs) covered by this patent exhibit a unique mechanism of action that does not increase the risk of bleeding yet prevents the formation of the dangerous blood clots behind heart attacks and strokes. Because these compounds are also highly selective against other serine proteases, they are expected to cause fewer side effects.

Further, their innovative mechanism of action does not inhibit thrombin-mediated platelet activation, making them well suited for long-term combination therapy with antiplatelet drugs.