NetScientific's Vortex Biosciences won licence to four patents from Harvard

The patents cover novel cell electroporation technology (CTC), which Vortex will combine with its CTC enrichment technology to offer rapid CTC bioassays. Vortex introduced VTX-, a fully automated benchtop system for collecting intact CTCs using microfluidic technology, earlier in the year.

NetScientific’s chief executive Francois R. Martelet, said: "Vortex Biosciences' VTX-1 system, introduced earlier this year, already offers one of the most sophisticated ways to collect and analyse CTCs.

“The exclusive license of these new patents from a world leading research institution will significantly increase the ability of Vortex's technology to characterise CTCs and strengthen its ability to analyse the underlying drivers of a patient's disease as the VTX-1 moves towards commercialisation."

Vortex chief executive Gene Walther said the company was already developing a next generation system for CTC enrichment and characterisation intended to help make personal medicine a reality.

Walther added:"The combination of our CTC enrichment technology and the electroporation technology developed at Harvard will lead to a powerful solution for characterizing CTCs and ultimately a better understanding how to treat a patient's disease."

Shares in AIM-listed NetScientific were up 5.04% to 73p at close.