The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance to Rosetta Genomics' US patent Application No. 13/977,797, entitled "Compositions and Methods for Treatment of Ovarian Cancer." The patent relates to inhibition of miR-210 for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

Treatment for advanced ovarian carcinoma is typically based on the combination of surgery and chemotherapy. The objective of surgical intervention in patients suffering from advanced disease is to perform cyto-reduction to minimal residual disease in the abdominal cavity. Surgery is followed by adjuvant platinum based chemotherapy. Although 80-90% of patients initially respond to first line treatment, most will either progress during therapy or recur after complete remission. Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other gynecologic cancer.

"This new patent allowance complements and extends the broad intellectual property protection we have established for oncology therapeutics and represents a valuable addition to our microRNA patent estate," stated Kenneth A. Berlin, president and chief executive officer of Rosetta Genomics. "Ovarian cancer remains a serious unmet medical need where there is a great demand for effective new therapies. microRNAs represent potential targets for the development of novel drugs and our growing patent portfolio for oncology therapeutics represents a valuable asset for development and/or monetization. Rosetta is a pioneer of microRNA technology and our broad and expanding patent portfolio will continue to protect and maintain our leadership position, as the vast potential of microRNA technologies is becoming realized."

"Rosetta has previously shown that microRNA-based diagnostics can provide significant insights into predicting response to platinum-based therapeutic regimens, which are the first line treatment for ovarian cancer. This capability is of greater value today as new agents are emerging with efficacy in ovarian cancer that provide potential alternatives when platinum is determined to be of unlikely benefit and may, therefore, be added to our clinical diagnostic portfolio going forward to leverage investments in our commercial and laboratory infrastructure," added Dr. E. Robert Wassman, chief medical officer of Rosetta Genomics.

Rosetta's robust patent portfolio includes 36 issued patents, including 32 in the U.S. In addition, Rosetta has 49 patent applications pending, of which 27 are in the US.

According to the National Cancer Institute, nearly 22,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and over 14,000 women will die from ovarian cancer in 2014. Ovarian cancer is the eighth most common cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women in the U.S. Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other gynecologic cancer, but it accounts for only about 3 per cent of all cancers in women.

In spite of considerable research into therapies for ovarian cancer, ovarian cancer remains difficult to diagnose and treat effectively, and the mortality observed in patients indicates that improvements are needed in the treatment and prevention of the disease.

Founded in 2000, Rosetta's integrative research platform combining bioinformatics and state-of- the-art laboratory processes has led to the discovery of hundreds of biologically validated novel human microRNAs.