A Medical Device Daily

Corgenix Medical (Broomfield, Colorado), a developer of diagnostic test kits, has received notification of two new patents for technology to which Corgenix holds exclusive worldwide licensing rights outside of Japan. The technology is incorporated in the company's AtherOx product group, a next-generation technology to identify individuals at risk for developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

U.S. patent No. 7,455,976 was issued Nov. 25. The patent, titled "Method of Measuring Oxidized LDL/B2-Glycoprotein I Complex Occurring in the Living Body," is a method patent that incorporates newer immunochemical characteristics for the interaction between oxLDL and B2GPI to form oxLDL/B2GPI (AtherOx complexes) and their use as a standard for more accurate measuring of this complex in biological samples such as serum or plasma.

European patent No. EP 1 548-436 B1 was issued Nov. 19. The patent also is a method patent providing additional European protection to the components and assay procedure used to measure AtherOx complexes in biological samples.

The most recent patent provides additional coverage to immunoassays for the detection of the oxLDL/B2GPI complexes which is the basis for Corgenix AtherOx test kits.

Douglass Simpson, president/CEO of Corgenix, said, "We have one AtherOx-related product already cleared by the FDA and several products in the later stages of the development pipeline. Since cardiovascular disease is one of the world's leading causes of death, the early detection of atherosclerosis has become increasingly important, and we are optimistic about our ability to serve this significant market."

The AtherOx technology utilizes oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) complexed with the plasma protein B2GPI. Corgenix licensed this technology in 2002, and is developing additional products utilizing this platform. In addition to the four U.S. patents which have been issued, several others are pending.

Aribex (Orem, Utah), a developer of handheld X-ray technologies, reported that it has been allowed a second U.S. patent for its Nomad hand-held X-ray system.

The latest patent protects the central concept of having all components of the X-ray system in the same enclosure. This concept led to the development of the world's first hand-held X-ray system. Aribex was previously awarded patent No. 7,224,769 for the digital X-ray camera in October 2007.

"No one had ever made a hand-held intraoral X-ray with the power source in the same enclosure as the X-ray head," said Dr. D. Clark Turner, president/CEO of Aribex. "We opened up a new category when we created the Nomad. We are glad to have our creativity and our technology recognized and protected in this manner."

Along with the invention associated with these new patented products, Aribex has made significant investments in updating conventional industry standards and regulations, even to the extent of drafting new legislation to allow the use of hand-held X-ray. The granting of this patent provides additional protection to this extensive investment, the company said.