BioFoce Nanociences, a featured company of RedChip, announced today that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its Chip-On-A-Tip patent. The innovative technology is a state-of-the-art method of performing tests on tiny tissue and liquid samples. The method can be used to diagnos diseases, such as cancer, and for small sample analysis.
The Company has utilized Chip-On-A-Tip in the past to successfully perform cancer protein biomarker screening from as few as four cells, which illustrates the detection of prostate specific antigen, commonly used for the diagnosis of prostate cancer.
Dr. Eric Henderson, BioForce’s CEO, stated, “COAT is one example of the NanoDiagnostic testing technologies under development at BioForce. The concept behind NanoDiagnostic tests is to address the many instances where it is highly desirable to be able to obtain a diagnosis using miniscule samples in order to minimize patient invasiveness or simply because larger samples are not readily available. This is particularly important when analyzing protein biomarkers, which are indicators of disease and, unlike DNA, cannot be amplified by any known process. In order to do this, the diagnostic test itself must be of a size scale consistent with the sample size, which can be as small as a single cell. Examples of when this is important include tests involving neonatal blood, forensic specimens, and cells aspirated from a tumor.”
“The Notice of Allowance on the COAT patent is the third significant development in our intellectual property portfolio during 2007. Earlier this year, we received confirmation of our Protein Nanoarray patent, covering protein arrays with feature sizes of less than one micron squared for creating ultra-miniaturized diagnostic tests and micro-environments for the study of cell biology. We also received a Notice of Allowance for our Sindex(tm) chip patent. Sindex chips are indexed silicon substrates that serve as the basis for a host of ultra-miniaturized tests,” he continued.
Kerry Frey, BioForce’s COO, commented, “Our platform technology, the Nano eNabler(tm) molecular printing system, is instrumental for the construction of ultra-miniaturized diagnostic tests, such as the COAT device. We believe that COAT is just one of many paradigm-shifting technologies that will emerge from the Nano eNabler’s capabilities. Our patented ViriChip(tm) virus detection technology is a second example of products resulting from BioForce’s internal use of the Nano eNabler. Additionally, we now have a significant worldwide base of customers who have purchased Nano eNablers and are using them to create an ever-expanding arsenal of forward-looking inventions in areas including health care, tissue engineering, stem cells, neurobiology, cancer cell biology and biosensors.”
Frey added, “As our business grows, we are very cognizant of the importance of continued innovation, both internally and in collaboration with our customer-colleagues. Reaching out to our customers and embracing new ideas and opportunities is a cornerstone of our business philosophy.”
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