Benzinga | Apr 6, 2021 06:16AM EDT

Biodesix Announces Issuance of Two US Patents

Diagnostic Test and Novel Methodologies Designed to Guide Patient Assessment and Treatment Strategies

Biodesix, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDSX), a leading data-driven diagnostic solutions company with a focus in lung disease, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued two patents that will enhance its ability to develop blood-based immunotherapy and pipeline testing strategies. These developments further improve Biodesix's ability to offer rapid, accurate assessment of patients, which guide physician treatment strategies for their cancer patients.

U.S. Patent 10,950,348, titled, "Predictive Test for Patient Benefit from Antibody Drug Blocking Ligand Activation of the T-Cell Programmed Cell Death 1 (PD-1) Checkpoint Protein and Classifier Development Methods," covers a test that classifies patients based on their responses, or failures to respond, to immunotherapies. This diagnostic methodology is designed to stratify patients with lung cancer based on their likelihood to respond to immunotherapies.

"Immunotherapy drugs have made tremendous headway in the treatment of many types of cancers, including lung cancer and melanoma," said Robert Georgantas, III, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Research and Translational Science at Biodesix. "However, only a subset of patients benefits from these treatments. Predicting who will or will not respond to immunotherapy is imperative for better stratification of patients by immune response to foster treatment personalization and optimal outcome. Additionally, response prediction can help our biopharma research partners develop drug regimens to improve patient survival with these types of drugs."

U.S. Patent 10,870,891, "Diagnostic Test System for Specific, Sensitive and Reproducible Detection of Circulating Nucleic Acids in Whole Blood," covers a novel method for detecting fragmented ribonucleic acid (RNA) in whole blood samples. The method uniquely purifies and amplifies RNA once it is isolated and can ultimately be used in tests that identify or quantify tumor genes and mutations in a host of downstream applications.

"This method is especially valuable because it further improves the performance of our blood-based technologies," Gary Pestano, Ph.D., Chief Development Officer at Biodesix, said of the novel diagnostic test method. "The method is incorporated into multiple diagnostic tests, such as the GeneStrat(r) test and other pipeline tests. Specifically, the patented methods have applicability across a number of technologies that purify, transcribe and amplify nucleic acids, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and next-generation sequencing (NGS), allowing Biodesix to gather important data in a robust and efficient way that can be used to support physicians and patients in making timely treatment decisions."

"Patents have historically driven the biotechnology industry forward, but conversely have become harder than ever to obtain. Our recent issuances, across diverse technology fields are good news in light of the increasingly fast pace of the diagnostics sector," said Scott Hutton, Chief Executive Officer at Biodesix. "There is significant ongoing research activity at Biodesix, which will lead to future patent filings that will continue to strengthen and broaden our position in the market."