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Key US Patent Granted for Breakthrough LBT Lab Automation Technology
30 September, 2010
LBT Innovations Limited (ASX: LBT) the Australian clinical and diagnostic technology developer, has been advised that the United States patent has been granted for the agar plate streaking technology which is at the core of the company’s MicroStreak® system.
MicroStreak® enables microbiology laboratories to automatically process agar plates during infectious disease testing several times faster than can be done manually by a lab technician. Granting of the US patent gives LBT protection over the technology in all of its major target markets following the earlier granting of patents in Europe and Australia.
LBT’s agar plate streaking technology is licensed to French diagnostics company bioMérieux, which markets it as PREVI™ Isola in global pathology markets. PREVI™ Isola has been installed in labs in the US, Australia, China, Japan, in multiple European countries and the UK. LBT receives milestone payments from bioMérieux and a double-digit percentage royalty on each disposable MicroStreak applicator sold.
“Such comprehensive patent protection for MicroStreak® adds significantly to its asset value,” LBT Innovations CEO and Managing Director Lusia Guthrie said. “The favourable response it has had from microbiology labs around the world indicates that it has considerable potential in the market place.”
LBT is also well advanced in the development of the next product it aims to add to its range as it drive towards its mission of becoming a global leader in innovative automation technologies for medical and scientific laboratories.
“We are working on line extensions to PREVI™ Isola and we are progressing well with the development of other novel technologies to take to the market. We’ve filed a preliminary patent application for one particularly promising new product concept,” Mrs. Guthrie said.
The US patent for the microbial streaking technology was granted to Medvet Science Pty Ltd, which has exclusively licensed the worldwide rights to LBT Innovations. It was invented by John Glasson and Lachlan Smith who at the time of the patent filing worked at the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science (IMVS) in Adelaide.
