Patent ID: 7611700

Claim:
An isolated interferon (IFN) alpha cytokine, comprising an amino acid replacement in its sequence of amino acids, wherein: an amino acid replacement is E41 Q, whereby the interferon alpha cytokine exhibits increased resistance to proteolysis so that it can be administered orally compared to the unmodified interferon alpha cytokine that does not comprise the amino acid replacement; and in the interferon-alpha cytokine, the interferon is not glycosylated at E41Q; and the unmodified interferon alpha cytokine is selected from among an interferon α-2b (IFNα-2b), an interferon α-2a (IFNα-2a), an interferon α-2c (IFNα-2c) and consensus interferon whose sequences are set forth in SEQ ID Nos. 1, 182, 185 and 232, respectively.