On August 18, 2020 Biocept, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOC), a leading commercial provider of liquid biopsy tests designed to provide physicians with clinically actionable information to improve the outcomes of patients, reported that it has been granted US Patent number: 10,745,749, entitled METHODS FOR DETECTING NUCLEIC ACID SEQUENCE VARIANTS (Press release, Biocept, AUG 18, 2020, View Source [SID1234563799]). The patent provides intellectual property protection for Primer-Switch technology, which is useful for the detection of rare cell mutations using circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis through real-time PCR and associated analysis methods, including next-generation sequencing (NGS).
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The issuance of this patent expands Biocept’s intellectual property protection for the detection of rare mutations, including cancer biomarkers found in tissue, blood and cerebrospinal fluid. This is the second issued patent for the Primer-Switch technology, and is another step in Biocept’s pursuit of worldwide patent protection for this technology. The Primer-Switch technology provides another method for specifically enriching patient specimens for oncogene mutations of interest. Additionally, the Primer-Switch technology can be used to enhance the performance and specificity of the PCR method, which is the most widely used amplification approach used in diagnostic assays.
"Our Primer-Switch methodology has the potential to find rare mutations in PCR reactions, especially where the detection of rare genetic events is needed, or in cases where more precise PCR amplification reactions are desired or required," said Michael Nall, Biocept’s President and CEO. "This technology builds upon our ability to detect rare genetic events in addition to our Switch-Blocker technology, which we routinely use in our ctDNA Target Selector assays. This is another tool in our toolkit for methods to inform on biomarkers found in tissue, blood and cerebrospinal fluid to aid physician decision making in the treatment of their patients with cancer."