Aida Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AIDA) announced that it was granted an additional patent related to its Rh-Apo2L anti-cancer drug, the second of three patents Aida applied.

The patent was jointly granted by China's State Intellectual Property Office to East China University of Science & Technology (ECUST) and Aida's majority-controlled subsidiary, Shanghai Quiaer Biotechnology Company, Ltd. ECUST is the partner with Aida in the research of this field.

The patent, certificate number: 200510028037.6, deals with the cultivation of Rh-Apo2L. The main content of the patent includes the following:

- the fermentative process dividing into five stages,

- the different stage separately increasing the different C/N culture medium,

- realization of C and N demand balance, and -- that the methodology set by Aida can effectively enhance the soluble protein expression quantity while simultaneously reducing the fermentative process of the ethanoic acid accumulation.

According to the company, Rh-Apo2L is a pioneering biotechnology gene therapy drug used to treat certain forms of cancer. Rh-Apo2L completed the Phase I clinical trials successfully in July 2006.