Rockville, MD – June 6, 2012: Theranostics Health Inc. announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued Patent Number 8,168,568 B1 entitled: “Combinatorial Therapy for Protein Signaling Diseases” on May 1, 2012. This patent is exclusively licensed to Theranostics Health from the Public Health Service. The claims of the patent cover methods for selecting combination therapies based upon the activation status of disease or cancer-related protein pathways, and will be the basis for a series of TheraLink™ Diagnostic Assays under development which will provide a proteomic-based approach to personalized medicine.
The patent is directed to selecting combinations of drugs for treating patients with cancers and other diseases caused by abnormal cell signaling protein networks. The patent includes claims to 1) methods for identifying the drug combinations; 2) methods for using the combinations to treat patients; and 3) methods for screening drugs to identify therapeutic combinations.
This patent includes methods for selecting a combination of therapeutic agents that would allow for the individualized treatment of each patient’s molecularly-unique disease by measuring the network of activated cell signaling proteins directly from a small clinical biopsy. Additionally, the patent is not limited by the proteomic methods used to determine the activity state as such network mapping may be achieved by any available method, including protein microarray analysis, immunohistochemistry, antibody microarray analysis, mass spectrometry or bead capture.
“Theranostics Health believes that the allowance of this broad patent provides our company with a strong position in the growing proteomic-based diagnostic and therapeutic markets. This is especially important given the focus on molecular targeted therapies by pharmaceutical companies, the guidance by the FDA for these therapies to have a companion diagnostics to guide use, and an increasing awareness that combinations of therapies may provide synergistic advantages in treating diseases like cancer”, stated Glenn Hoke, President and CEO of Theranostics Health. “In addition to this patent, Theranostics Health is the beneficiary of multiple pending applications encompassing a wide-range of oncology indications through an exclusive license with George Mason University’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine”.
About Theranostics Health Inc.
Theranostics Health, a privately-held biotechnology company, develops technologies to measure the activation status of key signaling pathways that are instrumental in the development of companion diagnostics for molecular targeted therapies. While the Company has historically focused on providing services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology drug development companies, Theranostics Health is now developing testing capabilities for clinical oncologists to advance personalized medicine through its TheraLink™ Diagnostic Assay offerings.
Contact
Ron Hencin, Ph.D.
Vice President of Business Development 301-251-4443, Extension 119
rhencin@theranosticshealth.com
