Biolog Inc has received another patent on its proprietary miniaturization technology. This technology is applicable to the company's MicroLog microbiology identification/characterization (MI) products as well as the new Phenotype MicroArray (PM) technology. The patent, number 3,305,322, is granted for testing Biolog's device for liquid and liquid suspended samples. This brings the number of patents granted around the PM technology to 18. Biolog's new patent extends the international scope of protection on this unique technology which has patents already issued in the last two years in the U.S. and Europe.
"We believe miniaturization will become more important for the PM technology as we apply it to applications such as high-throughput screening of chemical compounds against cells" said Tim Mullane, President & CEO of Biolog, Inc. "Our miniaturization technology allows a minimum 10 to 20 fold reduction in sample required for the company's current assays. It offers the added benefit of single port inoculation, which reduces the potential for pipetting errors."
The current focus of the company is to extend its current assays to human cell analysis. Biolog is one of the market leaders in non-clinical microbiological identification tests and has an active technology-licensing program for its PM cell assay technology. The company is in discussions with miniaturization and microfluidics companies about licensing these patents for applications outside the companies cellular assay focus.