Phylonix Pharmaceuticals announced, at the Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting beginning in Baltimore, that the US Patent and Trademark Office has issued the company a broad patent for assessing the toxicity of pharmaceutical test agents on cardiovascular functions in zebrafish. US Patent No. 7,482,507, "Methods for Screening Agents for Activity Using Teleosts," which has 22 claims, includes assessment of heart rate in zebrafish and use of microplates for high-throughput screening.

"Although the pharmaceutical industry and the Food and Drug Administration have increased scrutiny of drug-related cardiotoxicity, especially drug effects on prolonging QT interval, there is currently a gap in technologies for preclinical cardiotoxicity assessment," commented Patricia McGrath, Phylonix president and chief executive officer. "Our panel of zebrafish-based assays will bridge this gap by enabling thorough assessment of cardiotoxicity during early stages of drug development.

"This award complements our previously issued patents for assessing angiogenesis, apoptosis, and toxicity in zebrafish, use of high-throughput screening methods, and transplantation of human cells for drug testing and disease modelling," she continued.

The two-chamber zebrafish heart develops rapidly; a beating heart forms within 22 hours of fertilization and exhibits a complex repertoire of ion channels and functional metabolism.

Phylonix is a Contract Research Organization developing and marketing patented, in vivo zebrafish-based assays, eZ-Screens, for assessing drug candidates for cancers, central nervous system disorders, cardiovascular diseases, apoptosis, and organ toxicity.