Virogates Has Been Granted a New Patent to Measure the Risk of Developing Life Style Related Diseases Using Its Suparnostic ® Biomarker Product
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ViroGates has been granted a new patent to measure the risk of developing life style related diseases using its suPARnostic ® biomarker product Denmark, August 22, 2011 ViroGates, that develops and distributes the biomarker suPARnostic ®, today announced that it has been granted a patent in the UK, patent number GB2461410, based on the international patent application PCT/EP2007/064497. The patent is entitled “Method and tool for predicting cancer and other diseases”. The patent grant is the first related to the international patent application, and will allow ViroGates to pursue measuring and monitoring of patients’ blood, to determine whether the individual is at risk of developing life style related diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, type-2 diabetes (T2D), COPD and cancer. The grant of this patent further strengthens ViroGates’ patent portfolio, which comprises patents related to measuring and monitoring of various infectious diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis and various conditions of sepsis. The MONICA10 study (published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, 28 May 2010 by Jesper Eugen-Olsen, Ove Andersen and Steen B. Haugaard, Hvidovre University Hospital) has been the scientific basis for establishing this relation between suPAR and life style related diseases. The study documented that suPAR was predictive of development of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer, and particularly in predicting which individuals would progress to develop lung cancer. ViroGates, supported by a network of international key opinion leaders, is working towards establishing suPARnostic ® as a clinical decision-making product worldwide. “We are very excited to receive the news of this first grant of a patent relating to predicting serious life style related diseases” comments Jakob Knudsen, CEO of ViroGates. “The patent is based on many years of research into how suPAR reacts and is commercially very valuable, in that it will allow ViroGates to expand its suPARnostic® business to also target physicians, medical care takers and the general public that are concerned about the dramatic increase in life style related diseases, that we are witnessing these years. We are eager to help curb this increasing trend by allowing physicians and individuals access to a prognostic tool, that will allow them to act in due time and avoid manifestation of these serious illnesses”. Jørgen Thorball, Chairman of the Board of ViroGates adds: “ViroGates already hold strong patent positions for better triaging and monitoring of hospital patients, and with the new patent protection, we will have access to the fast growing consumer health market, where suPARnostic is probably the single most useful blood test one can measure in e.g. routine health testing in companies and other private settings”. About ViroGates ViroGates is an international Medtech company headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. ViroGates develops and distributes prognostic products for healthcare management with a single goal in mind: To identify risk patients early and improve the lives of seriously infected people globally. The novel ViroGates method called suPARnostic ®, the “Risk Status Marker”, involves the measurement of a protein found in every individual and known as soluble urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor (suPAR). suPARnostic ® has a unique value as biomarker: Independent of the respective condition, an elevated suPARnostic ® level carries a negative prognostic value and is thus a master alarm for patient risk status. In clinical practice suPARnostic ®’s main application is in patient triaging in critical care as well as monitoring of treatment efficacy and success. suPARnostic ®’s prognostic value has been exemplified in various infectious conditions through clinical studies, these include sepsis, tuberculosis, malaria and HIV. The first commercial suPARnostic ® product is an ELISA-based test kit for the quantitative determination of suPAR in human EDTA plasma. The suPARnostic ® ELISA holds the CE/IVD mark and provides a simple and cost-effective clinical monitoring tool. ViroGates has launched suPARnostic® in several countries in Europe, Africa and Asia and is preparing further suPARnostic ® products for launch, amongst them a lateral flow rapid test – suPARnostic ® Quick. Further Information Please contact Jakob Knudsen, CEO, ViroGates (+45 2226 1355 or [email protected] ) or Jørgen Thorball, Chairman of the Board of ViroGates (+41 78 648 27 77 or [email protected] ) ViroGates A/S, Blokken 45, DK-3460 Birkerød, Denmark, www.virogates.com/www.suparnostic.com .