US Patent Office Grants Key Risk Test Patent
June 18 2020 - 8:00AM
Molecular diagnostics company Genetic Technologies Limited (ASX:
GTG; NASDAQ: GENE) (the “Company”) is pleased to announce the
issuance of US Patent No: US 10,683,549, Methods for assessing risk
of developing breast cancer. Genetic Technologies is the first
company to successfully commercialise a polygenic risk test for
breast cancer in the world.
The granted patent covers our proprietary panels
of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the combination of
clinical and phenotypic risk models to create the most
comprehensive risk assessment tool on the market: GeneType for
Breast Cancer.
The proprietary technology incorporated into
GeneType for Breast Cancer provides significant benefits over
existing breast cancer risk assessment algorithms. Breast cancer is
often looked at as an inheritable disease, but about 85% of breast
cancer patients do not have a strong family history of breast
cancer. Combining clinical risk factors and GTG’s patented
phenotypic risk model can identify those who are at high, average
or low risk of developing breast cancer, which can inform an
individual’s personalised preventative protocol alongside
physicians.
The USA is the largest healthcare market in the
world and breast cancer is the second largest cause of death
amongst American women (after lung cancer).
“The climate in the USA for genetic and biotech
patents has been particularly challenging over the past few years
and Genetic Technologies has been working hard to implement an
intellectual property strategy to protect our products, enhancing
the value proposition of both the tests and the Company as a
whole,” said GTG CEO Dr George Mucknicki.
The Company has utilised the knowledge gained in
achieving the grant of this patent to formulate the claim language
used in its recent provisional patent filing entitled “Methods of
assessing risk of developing a severe response to coronavirus
infection”. Leveraging GTG’s core expertise in predictive risk
modelling, the Company has commenced analysis of the early,
available genomic and phenotypic data from COVID-19 patients and
developed a prototype predictive model to identify those patients
most likely to require hospitalisation, should they contract
COVID-19.
“With the prototype model complete for the
COVID-19 Severity Risk Test, we’re confident that there will be
widespread interest as many regions continue to pivot their
pandemic management strategies,” said Dr Muchnicki.
“This product can be effectively applied to
manage a safe return to work in areas with high infection rates and
help communities understand risk stratification to prioritise
access to vaccines to those most vulnerable and susceptible to
complications should they contract COVID-19.”
The granting of the key breast cancer patent and
the recent filing for the COVID-19 Severity Risk Test reflects the
growing maturation of the science around polygenic risk prediction
and the growing awareness around the value and clinical utility of
such tests by the medical community. GTG pioneered polygenic risk
assessments, publishing its first paper in 2010. Since then,
scientific literature on the field has expanded and is an
indication of interest.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b1b8aa30-18e3-45cd-94b6-306c6b53dd7b
Dr George Muchnicki Acting CEO and Justyn
Stedwell Company SecretaryOn behalf of the Board of
DirectorsGenetic Technologies Limited+61 3 9412 7000About
Genetic Technologies Limited
Genetic Technologies Limited (ASX: GTG; Nasdaq: GENE) is a
diversified molecular diagnostics company. GTG offers cancer
predictive testing and assessment tools to help physicians
proactively manage patient health. The Company’s lead products
GeneType for Breast Cancer for non-hereditary breast cancer and
GeneType for Colorectal Cancer are clinically validated risk
assessment tests and are first in class.
Genetic Technologies has capacity for COVID-19 testing and is
developing a pipeline of risk assessment products.
For more information, please visit www.gtglabs.com.
Investor Relations and Media
(US)
Dave Gentry, CEO RedChip Companies Office: 1 800 RED CHIP (733
2447) Cell: US 407 491 4498 dave@redchip.com
Australia
Trevor ChappellWE CommunicationsEmail:
tchappell@we-worldwide.comT: +61 407 933 43
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