Angle granted European patent for CellKeep, US patent imminent

Liquid biopsy specialist Angle announced on Monday that it has received a European patent for its ‘CellKeep’ slide, as it anticipated the imminent grant of an equivalent US patent application.

The AIM-traded firm said the CellKeep slide, developed over three years, addresses the prevalent issue of circulating tumour cell (CTC) loss in standard laboratory microscopy techniques for cytological analysis.

Through in-house testing, the proprietary slide demonstrated an impressive elimination of over 70% of CTC loss associated with conventional techniques.

The board said the breakthrough was significant as it enhanced the efficiency of the ‘Parsortix’ system, which captures intact and viable CTCs from blood for downstream analysis.

By minimising cell loss during the transfer of CTCs to microscope slides and preserving cell morphology, the CellKeep slide ensured higher sample positivity rates and better preservation of CTC morphology and clusters.

Moreover, the company said the use of CellKeep slides reduced costs by concentrating CTCs into a smaller area on the slide, limiting the quantity of high-cost antibodies and imaging time required for analysis.

Angle said the CellKeep slide was an integral component of its ‘Portrait+’ CTC staining kit, providing customers with enhanced capabilities to identify and enumerate CTCs harvested using the Parsortix system.

“We are delighted to have secured intellectual property rights for our proprietary CellKeep slide in two major jurisdictions,” said chief executive officer Andrew Newland.

“Following harvesting of rare CTCs from patient blood samples using the Parsortix system, the CellKeep slide and associated methodology will significantly improve the capture of CTCs for microscopy-based biomarker assays and will enhance sensitivity across Angle’s assay portfolio.

“This is a significant technology advancement for the CTC liquid biopsy field and another step towards enabling biomarker-guided precision medicine for people with cancer.”

At 0919 BST, shares in Angle were up 8.33% at 13p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.