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Jun 19, 2009 TRANS GENIC INC. |
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TRANS GENIC Granted Japanese Patent for Antibody against Pancreatic Cancer Marker and its Diagnostic Application |
TRANS GENIC INC. (headquartered in Kumamoto, Japan, CEO: Ken-ichi Yamamura, hereinafter referred to as "we") and National Cancer Center (Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan, President: Dr. Setsuo Hirohashi) filed on October 14, 2008 a patent application for an antibody against pancreatic cancer marker and its diagnostic application. We hereby announce that the patent has been granted by the Japan Patent Office (Patent No. 4319700). |
| Identifying new tumor markers and establishing diagnostic methods using them are in demand to realize early diagnosis of cancers and personalized medicine. We are working hard to discover and identify various tumor markers, while actively promoting research to develop new assay systems using antibodies. |
| As a part of these efforts, we started joint research with Dr. Masaya Ono and Dr. Tesshi Yamada, Chemotherapy Division of National Cancer Center Research Institute in December 2007 to work toward practical use of early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. As early as 11 months later, we succeeded in developing an assay system to detect new tumor markers useful for diagnosing pancreatic cancer. We and National Cancer Center immediately agreed to protect the achievement as intellectual property for its further development and jointly applied it for the “Super Accelerated Examination System” launched by the Japan Patent Office on a pilot basis on October 2008. |
We will continue the joint research to work toward practical use of this intellectual property, such as licensing it to diagnostic reagent manufacturers and developing diagnostic methods with simple procedures. |
| The effects of the patent acquisition on our business performance are as yet unknown, but we will make an announcement as soon as it is revealed to have a significant impact on our future performance. |
Reference: |
| “Patent Application for Antibody against Pancreatic Cancer Marker and its Diagnostic Application” released on Oct. 14, 2008 http://www.transgenic.co.jp/jp/pressrelease/pdf/20081014.pdf |
Super Accelerated Examination System |
| It was launched by the Japan Patent Office on a pilot basis on October 2008 to process patent applications more rapidly than can be done under the conventional accelerated examination system and to flexibly respond to the needs of applicants aiming for early commercialization of their invention. |
| Pancreatic Cancer in Japan |
| According to "Cancer Statistics in Japan - 2007" published by Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research, the number of death due to cancer in Japan exceeds 320,000 every year. Pancreatic cancer accounts for 7% (22,000 deaths) to the total and ranks 5th as a cause of death from cancer, following lung, stomach, colon and liver cancers. It is extremely difficult to detect early pancreatic cancer since it has almost no symptoms, but it rapidly progresses and metastasizes to other organs even at an early stage. For these reasons, it is said to be very important to detect it early enough to be treated in order to overcome the disease. |
| Diagnostic Method for Pancreatic Cancer |
| Although various imaging tests including ultrasonography and CT scan have been widely used to detect pancreatic cancer for these days, a simpler and more accurate diagnostic method is still in demand. Measuring blood tumor marker level (e.g., CA125, CA19-9, CEA) is commonly used as a simple method for detecting pancreatic cancer, but it often shows false-positive results. Therefore, an assay system to detect pancreatic cancer-specific markers has been in high demand. |
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