UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
8-K
CURRENT
REPORT
Pursuant
to Section 13 OR 15(d) of
The
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date
of
Report (Date of earliest event reported) October 7, 2005
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Advaxis,
Inc.
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(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its
charter)
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Colorado
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00028489
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84
- 1521955
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(State
or other jurisdiction of incorporation)
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(Commission
File Number)
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(IRS
Employer Identification No.)
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212
Carnegie
Center #206, Princeton, NJ
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08546
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(Address
of principal executive offices)
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(Zip
Code)
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Registrant’s
telephone number, including area code (609)
497-7555
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(Former
name or former address, if changed since last
report.)
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Check
the
appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously
satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following
provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):
o
Written
communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR
230.425)
o
Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14a-12)
o
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange
Act
(17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
o
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange
Act
(17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Item
8.01. Other
Events
The
Registrant was advised by counsel that it had received written notice from
the
European Patent Office that Cerus Corporation (“Cerus”) has filed an opposition
against European Patent Application Number 0790835 (“EP ‘835 Patent”) which was
granted by the European Patent Office and which is assigned to The Trustees
of
the University of Pennsylvania and exclusively licensed to the Registrant.
Registrant is defending against Cerus’ allegations in the Opposition that the EP
‘835 Patent, which claims a vaccine for inducing a tumor specific antigen
with a
recombinant live Listeria, is deficient because of (i) insufficient disclosure
in the specifications of the granted claims, (ii) the inclusion of additional
subject matter in the granted claims, and (iii) a lack of inventive steps
of the
granted claims of the EP ‘835 Patent. The Registrant believes that Cerus’
allegations in the opposition have no basis and it plans to vigorously defend
the claims.
The
opposition is in the early stages and, as yet, the Registrant is unable to
evaluate the merits, if any, to the opposition proceeding. If the European
Patent Office rules that the allegations are correct in whole or in part,
and
such ruling is upheld on appeal, the Registrant’s patent position in Europe may
be eroded to the degree that the claims of the patent are narrowed or not
allowed. The likely result of this decision will be increased competition
for
the Registrant in the European market for recombinant live Listeria based
vaccines. Regardless of the outcome of the opposition proceeding, the Registrant
believes that its freedom to operate in Europe, or any other territory, for
its
recombinant live Listeria based vaccine products will not be diminished.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant
has
duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto
duly authorized.
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ADVAXIS,
INC. |
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| Date: October
7, 2005 |
By: |
/s/ J.
Todd Derbin |
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Name: J.
Todd Derbin |
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Title:
President and Chief |
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Executive
Officer
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