Epizyme Granted First Patent Covering Personalized Therapeutic Drug Candidate E7438

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Epizyme, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company creating innovative personalized therapeutics for patients with genetically defined cancers, announced today that it has received a Notice of Issuance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its patent application entitled "ARYL-OR HETEROARYL-SUBSTITUTED BENZENE COMPOUNDS", U.S. Patent No.: 8,410,088. The USPTO granted claims covering the novel small molecule EZH2 inhibitor EPZ-6438 (E7438), a drug candidate for a genetically defined type of non-Hodgkin lymphomas. The patent issuance marks Epizyme's first claims covering this chemical matter.

Epizyme is developing EPZ-6438 (E7438) in partnership with Eisai Co., Ltd. In March 2011, the two companies announced a worldwide partnership to discover, develop and commercialize therapeutics targeting EZH2, with Epizyme retaining an option to co-commercialize, co-develop and share profits for this program with Eisai in the United States.

About Epizyme, Inc.

Epizyme is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company creating personalized therapeutics for patients with genetically defined cancers. Epizyme has built a proprietary product platform that we use to create small molecule inhibitors of a 96-member class of enzymes known as histone methyltransferases, or HMTs. HMTs are part of the system of gene regulation, referred to as epigenetics, that controls gene expression. Genetic alterations can result in changes to the activity of HMTs, making them oncogenic (cancer-causing). To date, Epizyme has entered into therapeutic collaborations with Celgene, Eisai and GSK that have provided it with approximately $120 million in non-equity funding through December 31, 2012. 

For more information, visit http://www.epizyme.com.

SOURCE Epizyme

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