Patent teaches methods of genotyping many patients at once, rather than one patient at a time as with traditional approaches
On 5 July 2005 the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) awarded TeleChem International a patent in the field of genotyping and human diagnostics.
United States Patent 6,913,879 entitled 'Microarray method of genotyping multiple samples at multiple loci' gives the company a major patent position in the rapidly expanding medical diagnostics market, it says.
Based on pioneering research by the company's visiting scholar Mark Schena, the patent teaches methods of genotyping many patients at once, rather than one patient at a time as with traditional approaches.
TeleChem says its multi-patient methods are rapid, accurate and highly cost-effective.
One embodiment, the 'Schena patent', places spots of patient DNA on a glass substrate, allowing as many as 100,000 patients to be screened in a single microarray test.
The massively parallel multi-patient format reduces the cost of genotyping a thousand-fold, it says, and ensures 100% accuracy.
In another embodiment, the multi-patient microarrays are manufactured using TeleChem's contact printing technology, providing the customer with seamless patented integration of both manufacturing and genotyping.
By virtue of the patent issuance, TeleChem says it is well positioned to address the expanding $22 billion global in vitro diagnostics market.
At a recent press conference, Schena shared his views on multi-patient genotyping technology.
"Most of my previous scientific work has focused on studying gene activity through gene expression analysis, rather than examining gene sequences by genotyping.
"But in the late 1990s we saw the need to develop genotyping methods that would allow testing of many patients at once, as a means of providing detailed information on genetic markers indicative of drug metabolism, neonatal disease, and other factors that impact human health.
"An ideal genotyping technology would allow many patients to be screened in a highly parallel manner.
"The eureka moment came some years ago when it occurred to me that an upside-down microarray, with the patient DNA attached to the glass rather than in solution, would be one way in which thousands of patients could be screened simultaneously using a single testing device.
"Similar to computer chips that process many logic operations at once, multi-patient microarrays allow as many as 100,000 patients to be tested in a single operation.
"This technology would allow us to screen the entire population of the United States quickly and affordably".
Co-founder and company vice president Todd Martinsky provided additional insight.
"There are two ways to genotype by microarray - patients up, and patients down.
"The patients down patent basically gives us ownership of half the microarray genotyping market.
"It is an enviable position to be in as the market places increasing demands on affordable genotyping information for many patients.
"Our platform is ideally suited for testing laboratories of all shapes and sizes.
"We look forward to licencing our technology to current and new users".
TeleChem is a privately owned company with products and services provided by three corporate divisions: life sciences (ArrayIt), chemicals, and diagnostics (NGS-ArrayIt).
The life sciences division offers a complete line of products and services for the microarray industry, a high-technology sector that uses tiny glass chips to decipher the human genome.
TeleChem's patented microarray manufacturing technology and supporting products are used in more than 10,000 company and university laboratories worldwide.
The chemicals division provides import and export services and government contract manufacturing in the area of industrial chemicals for plastics, fire control, water treatment, agriculture, and industrial and institutional compounding.
The diagnostics division has recently received a landmark patent (US 6,913,879) from the United States Patent Office for its revolutionary multi-patient genotyping technology, which allows as many as 100,000 patients to be tested on a single microarray.
NGS-ArrayIt plans to begin offering its patented genotyping and disease diagnostics methods to current and new users in the form of testing kits, services and technology transfer licences.
