Medicortex Finland Oy, a Turku-based biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of diagnostics and drug treatment for mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), announces approval of company’s pivotal patent in Israel.
The issued Israeli patent “Prognostic and Diagnostic Glycan-Based Biomarkers of Brain Damage” (IL patent number 254980) covers company’s core technology of innovative diagnostic kit and biomarker for detection of brain injury. The Israeli patent is the fourth grant in the patent family where related patents were previously granted in the USA, Canada and Europe.
“This is a great achievement – we are very pleased with the development of our patent portfolio” said Dr. Adrian Harel, Chief Executive Officer of Medicortex. “This latest patent approval continues to increase the intellectual property portfolio covering methods of using certain biomarkers for detection of concussion and mild TBI. The issuance of this patent is another important step in the development of a robust patent portfolio relating to new strategy to help identify and treat mild TBI” Dr. Harel continued. Israel is an important region to get the brain injury detection kit protected as soldiers in service are continuously, and civilians occasionally, exposed to blasts and explosions which are important causes of TBI.
Medicortex is developing a rapid diagnostic kit for detection of concussion and mild traumatic brain injury from urine or saliva. The kit is based on specific biomarkers that the company has discovered in body fluids following brain injury. Such a rapid kit will satisfy the urgent need to improve the detection of brain injury in mild cases especially – which is known to be a risky condition but difficult to detect due to closed head character of the injury and internal invisible lesions.
Medicortex’ patent portfolio encompasses biomarkers and methods of TBI detection as well as drug candidates developed by the company for halting the progression of TBI. The comprehensive patent coverage secures exclusivity to develop the products and the company’s strategy is to actively seek new patentable innovations from its biomarker and drug development programs.
Medicortex is making preparations for an Initial Public Offering and a listing of the company’s shares on the Nasdaq First North Growth stock exchange in Helsinki. The company is currently running a share issue which will equip Medicortex with the necessary resources to continue its ambitious biomedical development programs and strengthen the company for its planned IPO. The ongoing share issue is open to the public and more information about the investment case is available at Medicortex website www.medicortex.fi/investors.