American Biogenetic Sciences Inc. said Tuesday that it hasreceived a notice of allowance from the Patent and TrademarkOffice for a composition of matter patent on its monoclonalantibody 45J.

The 45J MAb is used in the company's first commercialproduct, Cadkit, a manual latex agglutination test that measureslevels of fibrinogen in blood plasma. Several studies suggestthat fibrinogen level may be superior to cholesterol as apredictor of cardiovascular events such as heart attack andstroke, the company said.

Henry L. Nordhoff, company president, estimated the potentialannual worldwide market for a fibrinogen test at $400 million.

Sales in Europe began this summer through Medlabs Ltd. ofDublin, Ireland, ABS' marketing partner for Europe, the MiddleEast and Africa.

ABS of Notre Dame, Ind., is looking for a U.S. marketing partnerfor an automated version of Cadkit that would reach themarket in the third quarter of 1992.

ABS shares (NASDAQ:MABXA) closed up 25 cents at $8.88.

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