A Medical Device Daily
XDx (Brisbane, California), a molecular diagnostics company, reported that it has filed an Inter Partes Reexamination requesting that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office review certain claims of U.S. Patent No. 6,964,850 (‘850 Patent) assigned to Source MDx (Boulder, Colorado), entitled “Identification, Monitoring and Treatment of Disease and Characterization of Biological Condition Using Gene Expression Profiles.”
XCx says that the ‘850 patent purports to claim methods for creating an index of a subject’s biological state pertaining to inflammation. XDx’s request states that a combination of prior art references available before the ‘850 patent’s earliest priority date raise substantial questions about the patentability of certain of the patent’s claims.
XDx has developed a method for non-invasively monitoring the immune system by measuring gene expression in a patient’s peripheral blood using genomic technology and bioinformatics to understand and measure the immune processes that underlie specific immune-mediated conditions.
Building on the discoveries made during the development of AlloMap molecular expression testing for heart transplant patients, which included the identification of many genes and pathways involved in tissue rejection, XDx says it is developing a product for use by physicians to better manage lung transplant patients.
Source MDx develops diagnostics biomarker panels for the detection of cancer and other diseases.