NetScientific's Glycotest gets Chinese patent allowed

Healthcare intellectual property commercialisation company NetScientific announced on Thursday that a Chinese patent exclusively licensed to one of its portfolio companies, Glycotest, has been allowed.

The AIM-traded firm said the patent provides “broad “protection of the assays in Glycotest's HCC Panel test for early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). and the company's pipeline tests for liver fibrosis and other serious liver disease.

It said the patent expanded Glycotest's existing patent portfolio, which has 10 previously-granted or allowed patents, protecting multiple aspects of its proprietary liver disease diagnostic platform.

Glycotest now holds patents in the US, Europe, Japan and Australia covering the use of more than 50 unique glycoprotein biomarkers and related assay technology for the diagnosis of liver cancers and other liver diseases.

Those patents have been licensed exclusively on a worldwide basis to Glycotest by Drexel University College of Medicine and the Blumberg Institute of the Hepatitis B Foundation.

NetScientific said Glycotest's lead product, HCC Panel, had demonstrated in two studies - of 208 patients and 127 patients respectively - that it has the potential to outperform the current dominant blood test regarding the early detection of HCC in patients with cirrhosis.

NetScientific holds an 87.5% stake - or 67% on a fully-diluted basis - in Glycotest.

“We are pleased to announce that Glycotest's IP portfolio will now also cover China, a highly significant market, which accounts for over 50% of worldwide deaths from liver cancer,” said NetScientific CEO and Glycotest chairman Francois Martelet.

“We believe Glycotest's HCC panel will enable early detection of HCC and, once commercialised, will change the paradigm of care.”