Aspira Biosystems
Announces Issuance of Key Patent
Covering the
Company’s Core Intellectual Property
SOUTH
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — (PR NEWSWIRE) — October 7, 2002 — Aspira Biosystems,
Inc. announced today the issuance of United States Patent 6,458,599 entitled “Compositions
and methods for capturing, isolating, detecting, analyzing and quantifying
macromolecules.” This
patent strengthens Aspira’s proprietary position in capture agents for proteins
and other macromolecules. Aspira is applying this patented approach to create
sequence-specific protein capture arrays for drug discovery and life science
research.
The
patent claims broad methods of making imprint compositions
capable of capturing macromolecules of interest. The invention, made by
Aspira’s co-founder and Chief Science Officer, Chin-Shiou Huang, PhD,
encompasses solidifying a fluidic material, such as a mixture of polymer
precursors which form shaped cavities in the presence of a template molecule
that corresponds to a portion of the macromolecule. Once the polymers are
solidified the template molecules are removed producing cavities that are
capable of capturing the target macromolecule.
Under the trade name ProteinPrint™, Aspira is
initially applying this technology by making arrays of protein capture agents
for detecting specific proteins in biological samples. Aspira and its
pharmaceutical customers will use the arrays to profile panels of known and
unknown proteins from biological samples to accelerate the drug discovery and
development process.
“We believe our ProteinPrint™ protein capture
technology can be scaled to create arrays capable of capturing and analyzing
most of the proteins in the proteome,” stated Casey Lynch, founding CEO of
Aspira. “The ability to efficiently measure many proteins in parallel will have
a significant impact on both drug development and clinical treatments.”
Aspira
has received a term sheet for its Series B financing and is in the process of
completing discussions with additional new investors. Its existing investors, including Alloy
Ventures of Palo Alto, CA, will be participating in the round.
Aspira
Biosystems, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in South San
Francisco, California developing breakthrough solutions for proteomics, the study
of all proteins encoded by the human genome. Aspira’s patent-pending
ProteinPrint™ technology enables rapid generation of sequence-specific capture
sites on polymeric films and arrays. Using ProteinPrint™ technology, Aspira can
dramatically accelerate target selection and validation for its pharmaceutical
partners. For more information on Aspira Biosystems, visit http://www.aspirabio.com.