Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 17/625,059

TREATMENT OF PULMONARY FIBROSIS USING INHIBITORS OF NEU1 SIALIDASE

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jan 05, 2022
Priority
Jul 08, 2019 — provisional 62/871,497 +1 more
Examiner
COLEMAN, BRENDA LIBBY
Art Unit
1624
Tech Center
1600 — Biotechnology & Organic Chemistry
Assignee
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
75%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
90%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 75% — above average
75%
Career Allowance Rate
1217 granted / 1629 resolved
+14.7% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+15.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
46 currently pending
Career history
1664
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.7%
-37.3% vs TC avg
§103
9.8%
-30.2% vs TC avg
§102
12.5%
-27.5% vs TC avg
§112
49.8%
+9.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1629 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Claims 1, 6, 7 and 35 are pending in the application. Response to Amendment Applicant's arguments filed April 10, 2026 have been fully considered with the following effect: The applicant's amendments and arguments are sufficient to overcome the 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1), anticipation rejection, maintained in the last office action, the applicants’ arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The applicants’ stated that first that subject is construed to mean any animal, including human as set forth on page 16 of the Specification; second that claim 1 does not expressly recite the terms “in vivo” or “in vitro”, the administration of C9-BADANA to the subject to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in the subject is clearly understood to be an in vivo method of treatment and not an in vitro method; and finally, claim 1 does not expressly recite a time restraint where the sialidase activity within a time course of only four hours following administration of flagellin to mice. However, Hyun does recite that the “lead candidate C9-BADANA (Fig 5) represents approach to stopping – even reversing – the course of IPF”; “this NEU1-inhibitory activity holds for primary human lung cells, and for murine lungs, in vivo”; and “our data indicate that C9-BADANA at 15 µg/kg body weight dramatically reduces lung sialidase activity and collagen deposition”. Hyun states that “we recently reported that human lung fibroblasts (HLFs) express NEU1, and NEU1 expression is increased in fibroblasts obtained from the lungs of IPF patients” and “C9-BADANA, at concentrations ≥1.34µM, dose-dependently inhibited HLF sialidase activity with an IC50 of 4.82µM”. Claim(s) 1, 6, 7 and 35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hyun et al., Glycobiology, for reasons of record and stated above. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRENDA L COLEMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-0665. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10-6 (flex). Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey H. Murray can be reached at 571-272-9023. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /BRENDA L COLEMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1624
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 05, 2022
Application Filed
Mar 21, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102
Sep 22, 2025
Response Filed
Oct 10, 2025
Final Rejection mailed — §102
Mar 10, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Apr 10, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Apr 13, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 10, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
75%
Grant Probability
90%
With Interview (+15.5%)
2y 5m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 1629 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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