EUROPEAN PATENT ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

Today DiaGenic received Notice of Allowance from European Patent Office for its method of diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease using blood samples and gene expression technology.

The patent when granted will be valid in 19 European countries and cover the use of differentially expressed informative probes for diagnostic purposes. The method of probe selection is general and not limited to any one particular mode of selection. Earlier DiaGenic had received a European patent, EP0979308, covering only the use of informative probes isolated by non-sequence based methods for diagnostic purposes.

Also, DiaGenic has recently been notified by the Indian and Australian Patent Authorities that they have accepted the claims comprising the use of important gene sequences in the detection of, among others, breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease (parent application, PCT/GB03/005102).

MD PhD Erik Christensen, managing director of DiaGenic comments, “The new European patent for diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is an important milestone which strengthens our position in this region. The company will now have similar patent protection in Europe and in the United States. The growing patent portfolio reflects our active patent strategy and confirms DiaGenic a leader in the field of molecular diagnostics utilizing blood-based tests. The new patents also make DiaGenic an attractive partner for a long period of time, since commercial agreements are typically entered into for the lifetime of the patents”.


Contact:
MD PhD Erik Christensen, Managing Director
Telephone: +47 95939918
e-mail: erik.christensen@diagenic.com