HistoRx, Inc., announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted a patent protecting HistoRx's core AQUA technology, an automated quantitative immunohistochemical (IHC) technology that enables in situ biomarker analysis for pathology.
US Patent No. 7,219,016, "Systems and Methods for Automated Analysis of Cells and Tissues," is issued to Yale University and is exclusively licensed to HistoRx. The patent claims the AQUA technology process, particularly the PLACE method (Pixel Locale Assignment for Compartmentalization of Expression), whereby biomarker expression is quantified in specific compartments of cells in tissue sections such as biopsies. The invention protected by this patent is the result of work pioneered by David Rimm, MD, PhD, and Robert Camp, MD, PhD, both of Yale University School of Medicine.
This patent establishes key intellectual property rights for HistoRx's core technology and solidifies the company's position to address laboratory and pharmaceutical company needs with differentiated, advanced histopathology analysis," said Rana K. Gupta, Interim CEO of HistoRx. "HistoRx is already applying AQUA analysis, fluorescent IHC methods, and digital imaging techniques to develop multiparametric assays to segment patients prior to therapy. The rapidly increasing number of independent, peer-reviewed scientific publications confirms the growing recognition of the utility of the AQUA technology in drug research and development."
"We are gratified to see this patent granted because we believe AQUA technology will play a significant role in the emergence of companion diagnostics, by making it possible to ensure that individual patients receive the drug that is most likely to be effective," stated the inventors, Drs. Rimm and Camp. "In addition, we believe this technology will provide the pathologist with significantly enhanced and valuable information for diagnosis and prognosis of cancer and other complex diseases."
HistoRx is developing and commercializing pioneering quantitative histopathology technology that provides exceptional measurement and localization of protein biomarkers in their natural context within tissue.