Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/002,899

EDIBLE CELL BASED VACCINES

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Dec 22, 2022
Examiner
BOESEN, AGNIESZKA
Art Unit
1672
Tech Center
1600 — Biotechnology & Organic Chemistry
Assignee
Trustees Of Tufts College
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
68%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 4m
To Grant
90%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 68% — above average
68%
Career Allow Rate
555 granted / 816 resolved
+8.0% vs TC avg
Strong +22% interview lift
Without
With
+22.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 4m
Avg Prosecution
31 currently pending
Career history
847
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.9%
-33.1% vs TC avg
§103
31.6%
-8.4% vs TC avg
§102
20.7%
-19.3% vs TC avg
§112
21.3%
-18.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 816 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 . Election/Restrictions Applicant's election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-12 in the reply filed on December 23, 2025 is acknowledged. Claims 13-22 are withdrawn as being drawn to non-elected invention. Claims 1-12 are under examination in this Office action. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on October 12, 2023 has been considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1-3 and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yang et al. (US Patent Application Publication US 2012/0034264). Yang et al. teach an engineered cell comprising a heterologous polynucleotide encoding an influenza H1N1 hemagglutinin antigen, wherein the cell is a Vero cells, BHK cells, MDCK cells, 293 cells and COS cells, including 293T cells, COS7 cells (see paragraphs [0063], [0112] and [0113]. Thus, by this disclosure Yang et al. anticipate the present invention. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (US Patent Application Publication US 2012/0034264) as applied to claim 1 and further in view of Liu et al, (US Patent Application Publication US 2012/0107911). Yang et al. teach an engineered cell comprising a heterologous polynucleotide encoding an influenza H1N1 hemagglutinin antigen, wherein the cell is a Vero cells, BHK cells, MDCK cells, 293 cells and COS cells, including 293T cells, COS7 cells (see paragraphs [0063], [0112] and [0113]. Yang et al. do not teach present SEQ ID NO: 1 or a sequence having 90% identity with present SEQ ID NO: 1. Liu et al. teach recombinant influenza hemagglutinin protein identical with present SEQ ID NO: 1 (see SEQ ID NO: 22 in Liu et al. and the sequence alignment below). It would have been prima facie obvious to provide Yang’s engineered cell comprising a heterologous polynucleotide encoding an influenza H1N1 hemagglutinin antigen, wherein the antigen is Liu’s polypeptide sequence comprising present SEQ ID NO: 1 because Liu et al. teach inducing cross-protective immune responses against various influenza strains following administering a vaccine comprising a polypeptide identical with present SEQ ID NO: 1 (see paragraphs [0056], [0081] and Example 1). Thus, the present invention would have been prima facie obvious at the time the invention was made. Present SEQ ID NO: 1 and SEQ ID NO: 22 in Liu et al. Query Match 100.0%; Score 3016; Length 565; Best Local Similarity 100.0%; Matches 565; Conservative 0; Mismatches 0; Indels 0; Gaps 0; Qy 1 MKANLLVLLCALAAADADTICIGYHANNSTDTVDTVLEKNVTVTHSVNLLEDSHNGKLCR 60 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Db 1 MKANLLVLLCALAAADADTICIGYHANNSTDTVDTVLEKNVTVTHSVNLLEDSHNGKLCR 60 Qy 61 LKGIAPLQLGKCNIAGWLLGNPECDPLLPVRSWSYIVETPNSENGICYPGDFIDYEELRE 120 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Db 61 LKGIAPLQLGKCNIAGWLLGNPECDPLLPVRSWSYIVETPNSENGICYPGDFIDYEELRE 120 Qy 121 QLSSVSSFERFEIFPKESSWPNHNTNGVTAACSHEGKSSFYRNLLWLTEKEGSYPKLKNS 180 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Db 121 QLSSVSSFERFEIFPKESSWPNHNTNGVTAACSHEGKSSFYRNLLWLTEKEGSYPKLKNS 180 Qy 181 YVNKKGKEVLVLWGIHHPPNSKEQQNLYQNENAYVSVVTSNYNRRFTPEIAERPKVRDQA 240 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Db 181 YVNKKGKEVLVLWGIHHPPNSKEQQNLYQNENAYVSVVTSNYNRRFTPEIAERPKVRDQA 240 Qy 241 GRMNYYWTLLKPGDTIIFEANGNLIAPMYAFALSRGFGSGIITSNASMHECNTKCQTPLG 300 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Db 241 GRMNYYWTLLKPGDTIIFEANGNLIAPMYAFALSRGFGSGIITSNASMHECNTKCQTPLG 300 Qy 301 AINSSLPYQNIHPVTIGECPKYVRSAKLRMVTGLRNIPSIQSRGLFGAIA GFIEGGWTGM 360 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Db 301 AINSSLPYQNIHPVTIGECPKYVRSAKLRMVTGLRNIPSIQSRGLFGAIA GFIEGGWTGM 360 Qy 361 IDGWYGYHHQNEQGSGYAADQKSTQNAINGITNKVNTVIEKMNIQFTAVGKEFNKLEKRM 420 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Db 361 IDGWYGYHHQNEQGSGYAADQKSTQNAINGITNKVNTVIEKMNIQFTAVGKEFNKLEKRM 420 Qy 421 ENLNKKVDDGFLDIWTYNAELLVLLENERTLDFHDSNVKNLYEKVKSQLKNNAKEIGNGC 480 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Db 421 ENLNKKVDDGFLDIWTYNAELLVLLENERTLDFHDSNVKNLYEKVKSQLKNNAKEIGNGC 480 Qy 481 FEFYHKCDNECMESVRNGTYDYPKYSEESKLNREKVDGVKLESMGIYQILAIYSTVASSL 540 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Db 481 FEFYHKCDNECMESVRNGTYDYPKYSEESKLNREKVDGVKLESMGIYQILAIYSTVASSL 540 Qy 541 VLLVSLGAISFWMCSNGSLQCRICI 565 ||||||||||||||||||||||||| Db 541 VLLVSLGAISFWMCSNGSLQCRICI 565 Claims 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (US Patent Application Publication US 2012/0034264) as applied to claim 1 and further in view of Zeng et al. (US Patent Application Publication US 2014/0004047) as evidenced by Rebello et al. (US Patent Application Publication US 2021/0348129). Yang et al. teach an engineered cell comprising a heterologous polynucleotide encoding an influenza H1N1 hemagglutinin antigen, wherein the cell is a Vero cells, BHK cells, MDCK cells, 293 cells and COS cells, including 293T cells, COS7 cells (see paragraphs [0063], [0112] and [0113]. Yang et al. do not teach Pax7+ mammalian muscle cell multinucleated myotube expressing myosin heavy chain (MHC) and actin. Zeng et al. teach expression of viral proteins in Pax7+ mammalian bovine satellite muscle cells (see Example 1, and paragraphs [0180], [0185]). Rebello et al. teach culturing muscle cells for food production comprising mammalian cells comprising multinucleated myotube expressing myosin heavy chain (MHC) and actin (Examples 9, 14 and 16, paragraphs [0057], [0061]). It would have been prima facie obvious to provide Zeng’s et al. Pax7+ mammalian bovine satellite muscle cells expressing Yang et al. teach an engineered cell comprising a heterologous polynucleotide encoding an influenza H1N1 hemagglutinin antigen, because Zhang et al. teach successful expression of viral proteins in Pax7+ mammalian bovine satellite muscle cells (see Example 1). Regarding present claim 9. Rebello et al. provide evidence that mammalian muscle cells comprise multinucleated myotube expressing myosin heavy chain (MHC) and actin. Thus, the limitation of present claim 9 is an inherent property of the cells in Yang and Zeng. Thus, the present invention would have been prima facie obvious at the time the invention was made. Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (US Patent Application Publication US 2012/0034264) as applied to claim 1 and further in view of Adamson et al. (Genetics, 2011, Vol. 189, p. 495-506) as evidenced by Abmayr et al. (Development 2012, p. 641-656). Yang et al. teach an engineered cell comprising a heterologous polynucleotide encoding an influenza H1N1 hemagglutinin antigen, wherein the cell is a Vero cells, BHK cells, MDCK cells, 293 cells and COS cells, including 293T cells, COS7 cells (see paragraphs [0063], [0112] and [0113]. Yang et al. do not teach Drosophila adult muscle progenitor (DrAMPC) or the multinucleated myotube expressing myosin heavy chain and ecdysone receptor. Adamson et al. teach Drosophila adult muscle progenitor (DrAMPC), expressing influenza virus M1 protein (see Materials and Methods). Regarding present claim 12. Abmyr et al. provides evidence that the multinucleated myotube expressing myosin heavy chain and ecdysone receptor are an inherent property of the Drosophila adult muscle progenitor (DrAMPC). It would have been prima facie obvious to provide Adamson et al. Drosophila adult muscle progenitor (DrAMPC), expressing Yang’s influenza H1N1 hemagglutinin antigen because Adamson et al. teach successful expression of influenza virus proteins in Drosophila adult muscle progenitor (DrAMPC) (see Materials and Methods). Thus, the present invention would have been prima facie obvious at the time the invention was made. Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AGNIESZKA BOESEN whose telephone number is (571)272-8035. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30 - 5:00 PM. 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, Thomas Visone can be reached on 571-270-0684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /AGNIESZKA BOESEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1648
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 22, 2022
Application Filed
Mar 07, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

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

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
68%
Grant Probability
90%
With Interview (+22.5%)
3y 4m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 816 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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