A Medical Device Daily

Vermillion (Fremont, California), a molecular diagnostics company, reported that the U.S. Patent Office has issued it patent number 7,605,003 titled "Use of biomarkers for detecting ovarian cancer" for the discovery of biomarkers for ovarian cancer. The patent covers biomarker combinations for both the diagnosis and management of ovarian cancer and covers measurement of the markers by a variety of methods, including mass spectrometry and immunoassay approaches, the company said.

"Vermillion has been creating a comprehensive patent portfolio to protect our ovarian cancer testing franchise. The issuance of this patent supports our overall intellectual property strategy and we continue to pursue additional patent applications in support of our diagnostic programs," said Gail Page, Vermillion executive chairperson.

According to the company, the OVA1 test is a qualitative serum test that combines the results of five immunoassays into a single numerical score. It is indicated for women who meet the following criteria: older than age 18, ovarian adnexal mass present for which surgery is planned, and not yet referred to an oncologist. The test uses five biomarkers – Transthyretin (TT or prealbumin), Apolipoprotein A-1 (Apo A-1), Beta2-Microglobulin (Beta2M), Transferrin (Tfr) and Cancer Antigen 125 (CA 125 II) – and a proprietary algorithm to determine the likelihood of malignancy in women with pelvic mass for whom surgery is planned.

In other patent activity:

• The Female Health Company (Chicago) said it has been issued a patent on its second-generation product, FC2, by the European patent office. In addition to Europe, FC2 patents have been issued in Canada, Australia, the Republic of South Africa and the People's Republic of China. FC2 patent applications are pending in the U.S., Japan and various other countries, the company said.

• athenahealth (Watertown, Massachusetts), a provider of Internet-based services to physician practices, reported that the U.S. Patent Office has issued it a patent, "Practice Management and Billing Automation System" for its athenaNet rules engine that is part of its revenue cycle management service, athenaCollector.

According to the company, the patented technology is a method for managing a medical practice's insurance claims by storing and modifying claim rules based on ongoing interactions with claim messages received from payers on submitted claims, enabling the system to automatically produce cleaner and more accurate claims.