Biomarkers

PERSONALIZED MEDICINE

Biomarkers is an important part in the ”personalized medicine” concept. The idea is that a simple test, for example a blood sample, will enable tailoring treatment for a certain patient.

In general, an invention must be novel and have inventive step for a patent to be granted. For biomarkers, there are additional rules.

USA

In the United States, the possibility to patent biomarkers has been limited by the supreme court in two landmark cases (Myriad and Mayo vs. Prometheus). For a patent to be granted in the US, it is often necessary to add some technical step to direct the claim to more than  ”gene X for diagnosis of condition Y”. 

Other jurisdictions

In Europe it is often possible to obtain a broader patent protection, as long as the inventor has data that makes the invention plausible, and of course, that there is novelty and inventive step.

We recommend that you contact us for a discussion on how to best protect your biomarker, by getting in touch with Anders Bratt