Belfast-based contract research organisation Fusion Antibodies plc (AIM: FAB) declared on Monday that it has received a notice of allowance from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for patent application no. 3,115,150 covering two families of antibodies and methods for designing antibody libraries.

The patent application, titled 'Antibody Library and Method', is expected to complement the company's Opti-designed antibody library offering, supporting applications in antibody discovery, affinity maturation and sequence optimisation.

Fusion Antibodies is also advancing additional patent applications related to its OptiMAL Library in Canada and other territories, including Europe and China.

The company noted that a notice of allowance confirms the patentability of the claims but does not constitute a formal grant of patent rights. The patent is expected to be granted following completion of administrative requirements and payment of the relevant fees.

Fusion Antibodies, a specialist in antibody discovery, engineering and supply services for therapeutic and diagnostic applications, said the intellectual property strengthens its technology platform and supports its strategy of developing advanced antibody engineering solutions for pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers.