Aphios picks up US patent for Bryoid B14B marine-derived composition targeting Alzheimer’s and cancer

Aphios Corporation (North Reading, Massachusetts) has received a notice of allowance from the US Patent and Trademark Office for a divisional patent application covering Bryoid B14B, a novel macrocyclic compound derived from marine bryozoan sources, with claims spanning Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, HIV latency therapy, cancer, and other amyloid-mediated disorders treatment. The allowance expands Aphios’s bryostatin-related intellectual property portfolio, which the company states now encompasses more than 85 issued and pending US and international patents.

The allowed claims cover the composition of Bryoid B14B, along with methods of isolation, purification, and manufacture. The USPTO determined the claimed composition demonstrated novelty and non-obviousness over prior bryostatin-related art, distinguishing B14B from the 20 previously characterized bryostatins by molecular weight and biological profile. The application was developed with support from the National Institute on Aging under a Small Business Innovation Research grant.

Bryoid B14B modulates protein kinase C pathways and stimulates alpha-secretase activity, two mechanisms implicated in amyloid precursor protein processing relevant to Alzheimer’s disease pathology. In vitro experimental data presented in the application demonstrated enhanced alpha-secretase activity and PKC signaling in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. The same PKC pathway modulation underpins the compound’s proposed utility in HIV latency reversal — a “shock and kill” strategy aimed at reactivating latent viral reservoirs — and in oncology applications involving PKC-dependent tumor cell differentiation. No clinical trial registration or disclosed clinical dataset for Bryoid B14B was identified in publicly available sources; specific clinical results remain undisclosed.

Competitive context for PKC-modulating and Alzheimer’s disease assets

The Bryoid patent Alzheimer’s program sits within a broader landscape of PKC-modulating and anti-amyloid approaches, none of which has yet produced an approved therapy from this mechanistic class. The most directly comparable asset is bryostatin-1, which has been evaluated in completed Phase I and Phase II oncology trials and in a Phase IIa study with expanded access in Alzheimer’s disease, the results of which were published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease in 2017. The molecule is no longer under active development by Neurotrope, which held development rights to bryostatin-1 in Alzheimer’s disease.

In the HIV latency reversal space, the Aphios neurodegenerative disease patent’s HIV claims place B14B adjacent to a field that includes PKC agonists such as ingenol derivatives and other latency-reversing agents under academic and industry investigation. The competitive field remains largely preclinical or early clinical, meaning the IP position could carry strategic value if clinical development is initiated.

The breadth of the Bryoid compositions patent claims — spanning neurodegeneration, oncology, and infectious disease — reflects the mechanistic versatility of PKC pathway modulation but also introduces the complexity of prosecuting and defending wide-ranging method-of-use claims across multiple therapeutic areas. Licensing or partnership discussions would need to address whether rights are structured by indication or by mechanism, given the overlapping biology.

Aphios states the Bryoid platform employs its SuperFluids supercritical fluid extraction and purification technology to isolate compounds from Bugula neritina and related marine organisms. The manufacturing process claims embedded in the allowed application may carry independent commercial value for any partner seeking a defined and reproducible supply chain for marine-derived macrocyclic compounds, a historically challenging area for scale-up.

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