Great Basin Scientific Inc (NASDAQ:GBSN), a molecular diagnostics company, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued U.S. Patent 9,359,637 for the company’s AMPED technology. The newly issued patent for systems and methods for signal amplification, U.S. Patent 9,359,637, broadens coverage of the invention—termed AMPED—to now include methods of use of the technology, not just confined to product kits containing the proprietary signal amplifying polymer, for detection of any diagnostic target of interest such as proteins and nucleic acids.
“The AMPED technology is at the core of our uniquely low-cost and powerful system, one that is capable of answering the ‘what is it?’ question with a low-cost, low-plex test, and the ‘what is causing it?’ question, identified by syndromic multiplex panels,” said Robert D. Jenison, chief technology officer, Great Basin Scientific. “We are pleased that the U.S. Patent Office has seen fit to offer us broad protection as we believe the exceptional sensitivity of AMPED can eventually be useful in fields beyond our current product focus of Molecular Diagnostics.”
The AMPED amplification and detection method uses the Company’s proprietary detection chip, which provides a visible result when the target of interest is present. AMPED’s high sensitivity and specificity will enable the direct detection of pathogens present in clinical samples, even when present in small amounts, without requiring polymerase chain reaction-based (PCR) target amplification, and when implemented in future tests will make it possible for Great Basin to provide PCR-like limits of detection at greatly reduced test times for certain targets of interest. This patent further secures the intellectual property behind Great Basin’s advanced molecular diagnostics technology. With this patent grant, Great Basin now has 6 U.S. patents and 13 patents pending. (Original Source)
Shares of Great Basin jumped nearly 21% to $2.17 in pre-market trading. GBSN’s 50-day moving average is $2.24 and its 200-day moving average is $33.83.
Great Basin Scientific, Inc. develops and manufactures test kits and analyzers for a patented molecular diagnostic system used in single pathogen tests. The company provides a medical diagnostic test for the detection of Clostridium difficile, a gram-positive bacteria that causes diarrhea and other intestinal disorders.
