A US patent (U.S. 6,451,535 B1) claiming a novel technology for rapid lead compound identification has been granted to NascaCell GmbH. This patent is the first approved patent among six applications filed by NascaCell regarding the use of aptamers and reporter aptazymes for drug screening.

Reporter aptazymes are small, synthetic nucleic acids that specifically inhibit protein targets. Reporter aptazymes have recently been applied in drug screening to identify specific small molecule lead compounds.

"This recognition by the US Patent & Trademark office is an important milestone for NascaCell," says Dr. Andreas Jenne, CEO of NascaCell. "Using our technology, it has been shown that reporter aptazymes can be generated against virtually any protein and that high-throughput screening assays can be established within a few weeks. A key advantage is that we can screen against targets that have been difficult to address with conventional methods. This is especially useful for finding highly specific inhibitors of kinases, phosphatases and protein-protein interactions."

"This patent underscores NascaCell's leadership in aptamer/aptazyme-based drug discovery," says Dr. Horst Domdey, CEO of the Munich-based biotech fund BioM and one of NascaCell's investors. "NascaCell's reporter aptazymes have an enormous commercial potential because they promise to tremendously accelerate drug discovery."