Evogen Receives U.S. Patent Covering Its Novel Epilepsy Blood Test

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Evogen, Inc., a leader in proteomics and genomics-based testing for improved diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders, today reported that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a key patent covering the company's biomarker-based blood test that can accurately identify epileptic seizures. It is the first patent to issue in Evogen's multi-application intellectual property portfolio of blood-based biomarkers for seizure detection in epilepsy and other neurological diseases. U.S. Patent No. 9,772,335 is owned by the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and is exclusively licensed to Evogen.

Todd Wallach, president and chief executive officer of Evogen, commented, "This patent validates the key concepts and claims underlying our scientific approach and is the first of what we anticipate will be a series of patents in the U.S., Europe and other major territories for our biomarker-based technology and products. We believe that our EvoScoreDX^TM biomarker-based blood test has the potential to revolutionize the diagnosis of epilepsy, which currently lacks objective, timely and cost effective diagnostic tools. We intend to pursue an active intellectual property strategy in partnership with Penn and with our own novel and proprietary core technologies, seeking broad patent protection for our current and future neurological assays."

"The University of Pennsylvania is committed to working with industry innovators such as Evogen to commercialize the discoveries of our world-class researchers," said Dora Mitchell, director of the UPstart program at PCI Ventures, a division of the Penn Center for Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania. "We are pleased that this first patent for our seizure biomarker technology has issued and look forward to working with Evogen to expand the intellectual property protection for this novel approach that could help improve the diagnosis and treatment of seizures."

Evogen's biomarker technology was invented and developed by Dr. Peter Crino and his colleague Dr. John Pollard at the Perelman School of Medicine at Penn. Dr. Crino noted, "We undertook the research that resulted in this patent because diagnosing epilepsy has too often been difficult, costly and imprecise. Issuance of this patent supports the development and commercialization of this innovative biomarker-based approach that can benefit epilepsy patients, reduce misdiagnoses and facilitate clinical trials."

Evogen is developing advanced diagnostics for neurological conditions such as epilepsy. Only an estimated 20% of suspected seizure-like events are actually epilepsy-related. The company's EvoScoreDX is designed to determine whether a neurological event is in fact a seizure. Unlike other approaches, EvoScoreDX analyzes the ratio and concentration of key serum biomarkers after an event in a standard blood test format. A peer-reviewed study presented at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Epilepsy Society showed that EvoScoreDX distinguished epileptic seizures from other neurological events with excellent sensitivity and specificity of 90% or more.

About Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder affecting approximately 65 million people worldwide and more than 2 million people in the U.S., where it is the fourth most common neurological disorder. Epilepsy may be linked to other health conditions, race and age, and it also can develop in anyone at any age. Approximately one in 26 people will develop epilepsy in their lifetime. There are many different types of epilepsy, but all are characterized by recurrent seizures. The accurate diagnosis of epilepsy remains a challenge, as current methods are largely subjective, cumbersome and expensive, with sub-optimal accuracy.

About Evogen
Evogen, Inc. is a leading developer of diagnostic, detection and sample collection solutions with successful products deployed worldwide. The company is focused on achieving leadership in proteomics and genomics-based testing for improved diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders, offering rapid, accurate and cost effective precision medicine solutions for optimal patient outcomes. Evogen's EvoScoreDX^TM biomarker-based blood test has the potential to help revolutionize the diagnosis of epilepsy. In peer-reviewed clinical studies, EvoScoreDX demonstrated sensitivity and specificity of 90% or more. It is currently available in limited distribution with expansion to additional target markets planned for 2018. Evogen is also preparing to launch its EvoScore Genomics (EvoScoreGX^TM) comprehensive genomic testing to neurologists for improved management of epilepsy and other neurological disorders. For more information, visit evogen.com.

SOURCE Evogen, Inc.