GenoMed to be awarded new patent, for treating acute kidney failure without dialysis

Jun 14 2005

GenoMed announced today that the US Patent Office has allowed claims and will be following up with an issued patent shortly on the Company's protocol to treat acute kidney failure with a drug rather than the dialysis machine.

Currently, patients with acute kidney failure are placed on the kidney machine in a hospital until their own kidney function improves. The older a person is, the less likely their kidneys are to recover, and the longer the patient has to stay on kidney dialysis. Acute kidney failure carries a 50% risk of dying, and it involves a much longer and more expensive hospitalization.

GenoMed's treatment makes use of an already existing, generic drug to promote recovery of kidney function, usually within 24 hours. In pilot studies, more than 70% of adults, including those with hepatorenal syndrome, and newborns have been spared kidney dialysis. A larger trial is being planned for publication.

GenoMed's treatment is ideal where access to kidney dialysis is scarce, e.g. after an earthquake, on the battlefield, or in the Third World. First World countries interested in cutting healthcare costs and improving the atrocious mortality of acute renal failure might also be interested in GenoMed's approach.