Clarient receives patent for "automated detection of objects in a biological sample"

Clarient, Inc. has announced that it has been granted a new U.S. patent related to the detection and quantification of rare tumor cells in blood and bone marrow.

The patent specifically covers Clarient's technology related to rare cell detection technology, with claims covering any system for finding rare tumor cells that uses magnification change, automation and color space transformation.

The patent, No. 7,177,454, granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, contains both device and method claims and is entitled, "Automated Detection of Objects in a Biological Sample."

Clarient's proprietary methods are capable of identifying one target cell among millions of cells, which make it possible to perform such detection and quantification tests in a lab setting.

Richard J. Cote, M.D., Director of the Laboratory of Immunology and Molecular Pathology at University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Chairman of Clarient's Scientific Advisory Board, said, "This patent relates to a very interesting and emerging segment of cancer diagnostics. There is gathering scientific evidence indicating that circulating tumor cell activity can be an early indicator or a predictor of cancer recurrence as well as a monitoring tool to determine whether a cancer treatment regimen is working and determine if changes in a treatment program may be necessary."

Clarient President and CEO Ron Andrews said, "Automated rare cell detection may become enormously valuable as a monitoring tool in the fight against cancer. Our access to intellectual property in this area enhances our commercial opportunity in this emerging field. Our lab experience in rare-event detection combined with our proprietary access to a strong portfolio of intellectual property positions us well for commercialization of novel markers for cancer diagnosis, prognosis and therapy selection."