The USPTO issued a patent grant (US12595479B2) to President and Fellows of Harvard College for antisense oligonucleotide-based progranulin augmentation therapy used in treating neurodegenerative diseases. The invention relates to methods and compositions for modulating progranulin expression or activity in the brain, with applications in conditions such as frontotemporal dementia and related neurodegenerative disorders.

Pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology firms engaged in neurodegenerative disease research should review this patent when assessing freedom-to-operate for progranulin-targeting therapeutics. Companies developing antisense oligonucleotide therapies or progranulin-modulating drugs may need to consider licensing arrangements or design-around strategies to avoid potential infringement claims.