BioPulse Acquires Rights to Cancer Marker

Biotechnology company BioPulse International, Inc. (San Ysidro, CA, USA) has acquired exclusive rights to thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) technology from Brigham Young University (Salt Lake City, UT, USA) for many regions of the world. Since TK1 has shown a strong correlation with cancer activity, the technology represents a potential breakthrough in cancer diagnostics.

BioPulse will complete the development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit for the measurement of blood levels of TK1. The simplicity, low cost, high accuracy, noninvasiveness and early detection capability of the test make it superior to many other tests for cancer, such as radiographs and biopsies, says BioPulse. Furthermore, the company believes the test kit can also be used for monitoring the progress of cancer patients and developing a prognosis for patients who have completed treatment. Several studies have found a direct correlation between elevated TK1 levels and breast cancer.
The technology is protected by a key patent that has around 15 years remaining, notes BioPulse.

"The immunoassay will be a major improvement over the traditional radioassay that has been used until now,” said Dr. Kim O'Neill, the inventor of the TK1 monoclonal assay. "Once BioPulse completes development of the kit, clinicians may be able to screen patients for cancer easily by obtaining a few drops of blood during a routine analysis.”



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