Claims for Patent: 7,579,456

Summary for Patent: 7,579,456

Title:	Aptamer therapeutics useful in the treatment of complement-related disorders
Abstract:	The invention provides nucleic acid therapeutics and methods for using these nucleic acid therapeutics in the treatment of complement-related disorders.
Inventor(s):	Claude Benedict, David Epstein, Dilârâ McCauley, Jeffrey Kurz, Markus Kurz, Thomas Greene McCauley, James Rottman, Charles Wilson
Assignee:	Astellas US LLC
Application Number:	US11/354,657
Patent Claims:	1. A composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of an aptamer comprising: where, indicates a linker Aptamer= the nucleic acid sequence fCmGfCfCGfCmGmGfUfCfUfCmAmGmGfCGfCfUmGmAmGfUfCfUmGmAmGfUfUfUAfCfCfUmGfCmG-3T as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 4, wherein fC and fU=2′-fluoro nucleotides, and mG and mA=2′-OMe nucleotides and all other nucleotides are 2′-OH and 3T indicates an inverted deoxy thymidine, or a salt thereof. 2. The composition of claim 1, wherein the aptamer linker is an alkyl linker. 3. The composition of claim 2, wherein the alkyl linker comprises 2 to 18 consecutive CH2 groups. 4. The composition of claim 1, wherein the aptamer comprises the structure set forth below: where Aptamer= the nucleic acid sequence fCmGfCfCGfCmGmGfUfCfUfCmAmGmGfCGfCfUmGmAmGfUfCfUmGmAmGfUfUfUAfCfCfUmGfCmG-3T as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 4 wherein fC and fU=2′-fluoro nucleotides, and mG and mA=2′-OMe nucleotides and all other nucleotides are 2′-OH and 3T indicates an inverted deoxy thymidine. 5. The composition of claim 4, comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent. 6. The composition of claim 2, wherein the alkyl linker comprises 6 consecutive CH2 groups.