A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

Enigma Diagnostics (Porton Down, UK) was issued European Patent EP1044283, which covers the use of endonuclease-based reporting in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and other nucleic acid amplification technologies.

BD (Franklin Lakes, New Jersey) had filed a claim in opposition to this patent which was rejected by the European Patent Office at a proceeding in Munich on May 28.

The patent is part of a portfolio of intellectual property exclusively licensed to Enigma Diagnostics by the UK Secretary of State for Defence.

The technology involves the use of a thermostable endonuclease to cut a probe that recognizes a specific sequence in the target amplification product. The system may be applied to a wide variety of molecular diagnostic applications including the rapid detection of viral and bacterial pathogens.

Enigma Diagnostics has developed products that completely automate the PCR process including sample extraction, amplification and analysis for application at the point-of-care by non-laboratory operators.

John McKinley, CEO of Enigma, said, "The maintenance of this key patent secures and supports the further development of Enigma's intellectual property portfolio."