bioAffinity Technologies Announces Award of Canadian Patent
SAN ANTONIO, TX – Feb. 4, 2019 – bioAffinity Technologies, a privately held biotech company, announced that the Canadian Intellectual Property Office has awarded a patent expanding the Company’s claims associated with its proprietary CyPath© technology for the early detection of cancer.
The patent, titled “System and Method for Analyzing Samples Labeled with 5, 10, 15, 20 Tetrakis (4-Carboxyphenyl) Porphine (TCPP),” is bioAffinity’s third Canadian patent granting protection for its porphyrin-based oncology platform developed for the non-invasive diagnosis of cancer. bioAffinity’s intellectual property (IP) portfolio now consists of 51 awarded patents in 21 countries.
bioAffinity’s porphyrin-based CyPath© assay preferentially binds to cancer cells that can be found in bodily fluids, such as sputum or urine, collected from people with cancer. CyPath® causes cancer cells in the samples to fluoresce in contrast to non-cancer cells, allowing for detection and diagnosis. CyPath© Lung, bioAffinity’s initial product for the early detection of lung cancer, is currently in a test validation trial at seven clinical sites in the U.S. The Company expects to begin commercial sales in Q2 2019 under a licensing agreement with Precision Pathology Services of San Antonio, TX.
“According to the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths and the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Canada,” bioAffinity President and Chief Executive Officer Maria Zannes said. “In Canada, where 44 percent of Canadians are either current or former smokers, CyPath® Lung can provide clinicians with an accurate, non-invasive, cost-effective tool for the early detection and diagnosis of lung cancer when patients have the best prognosis for survival.”
Canadian health officials currently recommend low dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening for adults between 55 and 74 years of age who are at high risk for lung cancer. But the high false-positive rate for LDCT can lead to invasive and expensive follow-up testing and overdiagnosis. Using CyPath® Lung as an adjunct to LDCT will improve the positive predictive value of lung cancer screening and diagnosis and lower the number of unnecessary invasive procedures.
“We are pleased to add our third Canadian patent to our patent portfolio,” Zannes said. “Protecting our IP at the international level is part of a strategy to commercialize our proprietary CyPath® technology and make a meaningful contribution to the global war on cancer.” bioAffinity holds 51 awarded patents, including protection in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Australia and countries of the European Union. The Company has three additional patent applications filed in the United States and internationally.