Claims for Patent: 6,893,840

Summary for Patent: 6,893,840

Title:	Cytomegalovirus Intron A fragments
Abstract:	Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Intron A fragments for expressing gene products are disclosed. Also described are expression vectors including the fragments, as well as methods of using the same.
Inventor(s):	Thudium; Kent B. (Oakland, CA), Selby; Mark (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee:	Chiron Corporation (Emeryville, CA)
Application Number:	09/977,066
Patent Claims:	1. A human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) Intron A fragment, wherein said fragment has an internal deletion of at least 10 nucleotides of the full-length Intron A sequence and comprises: (a) the contiguous sequence of nucleotides found at positions 1-25 of SEQ ID NO: 1, and (b) the contiguous sequence of nucleotides found at positions 775-820 of SEQ ID NO: 1, wherein when said fragment is present in an expression construct, the expression construct directs the transcription of a coding sequence present in the construct at levels equal to, or greater than, those levels achieved by an expression construct that includes a corresponding intact, full-length Intron A sequence. 2. The Intron A fragment of claim 1, wherein when said fragment is present in an expression construct, the expression construct directs the transcription of a coding sequence present in the construct at levels at least two-fold greater than those levels achieved by an expression construct that includes a corresponding intact, full-length Intron A sequence. 3. A recombinant expression construct effective in directing the transcription of a selected coding sequence, said expression construct comprising: (a) a coding sequence; (b) control elements that are operably linked to said coding sequence, wherein said control elements comprise the Intron A fragment of claim 1, whereby said coding sequence can be transcribed and translated in a host cell. 4. A host cell comprising the recombinant expression construct of claim 3. 5. The recombinant expression construct of claim 3, wherein said control elements further comprise a promoter selected from the group consisting of a simian virus 40 (SV40) early promoter, a cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, a mouse mammary tumor virus long terminal repeat promoter, an adenovirus major late promoter, a rous sarcoma virus (RSV) promoter, a SR.alpha. promoter, and a herpes simplex virus promoter. 6. The Intron A fragment of claim 1, wherein said fragment comprises: the contiguous sequence of nucleotides found at positions 1-51 of SEQ ID NO:1, and (b) the contiguous sequence of nucleotides found at positions 741-820 of SEQ ID NO:1, wherein when said fragment is present in an expression construct, the expression construct directs the transcription of a coding sequence present in the construct at levels equal to, or greater than those levels achieved by an expression construct that includes a corresponding intact, full-length Intron A sequence. 7. The Intron A fragment of claim 6, wherein when said fragment is present in an expression construct, the expression construct directs the transcription of a coding sequence present in the construct at levels at least two-fold greater than those levels achieved by an expression construct that includes a corresponding intact, full-length Intron A sequence. 8. The Intron A fragment of claim 6, wherein said fragment comprises in 5' to 3' order: the sequence of nucleotides 1-51 of SEQ ID NO:1, linked to nucleotides 741-820 of SEQ ID NO:1. 9. A recombinant expression construct effective in directing the transcription of a selected coding sequence, said expression construct comprising: (a) a coding sequence; (b) control elements that are operably linked to said coding sequence, wherein said control elements comprise the Intron A fragment of claim 8, whereby said coding sequence can be transcribed and translated in a host cell. 10. A host cell comprising the recombinant expression construct of claim 9. 11. A human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) Intron A fragment, wherein said fragment comprises the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:3, or a nucleotide sequence with at least 95% sequence identity thereto, wherein when said fragment is present in an expression construct, the expression construct directs the transcription of a coding sequence present in the construct at levels equal to, or greater than, those levels achieved by an expression construct that includes a corresponding intact, full-length Intron A sequence. 12. The Intron A fragment of claim 11, wherein said fragment consists of the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:3. 13. A recombinant expression construct effective in directing the transcription of a selected coding sequence, said expression construct comprising: (a) a coding sequence; (b) control elements that are operably linked to said coding sequence, wherein said control elements comprise the Intron A fragment of claim 12, whereby said coding sequence can be transcribed and translated in a host cell. 14. A host cell comprising the recombinant expression construct of claim 13. 15. The recombinant expression construct of claim 13, wherein said control elements further comprise the hCMV immediate-early (IE1) enhancer/promoter region found at nucleotide positions 460 to 1264 of SEQ ID NO:4, and said control elements further comprise the sequence of nucleotides at positions 821-834 of SEQ ID NO:1. 16. A host cell comprising the recombinant expression construct of claim 15. 17. A human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) Intron A fragment, wherein said fragment comprises in 5' to 3' order: a sequence of nucleotides having at least 95% sequence identity to the contiguous sequence of nucleotides found at positions 1-51 of SEQ ID NO:1 linked to a sequence of nucleotides having at least 95% sequence identity to the contiguous sequence of nucleotides found at positions 741-820 of SEQ ID NO: 1, wherein when said fragment is present in an expression construct, the expression construct directs the transcription of a coding sequence present in the construct at levels equal to, or greater than, those levels achieved by an expression construct that includes a corresponding intact, full-length Intron A sequence.

Details for Patent 6,893,840

Applicant	Tradename	Biologic Ingredient	Dosage Form	BLA	Approval Date	Patent No.	Expiredate
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.	INTRON A	interferon alfa-2b	For Injection	103132	06/04/1986		2020-10-13
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.	INTRON A	interferon alfa-2b	For Injection	103132			2020-10-13
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.	INTRON A	interferon alfa-2b	Injection	103132			2020-10-13