U.S. patent issued for Akonni biosystems' ultra-rapid nucleic acid extraction technology
Akonni Biosystems, a developer of low-cost, multiplex molecular diagnostic testing systems, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent on July 20, 2010 for its method for rapidly purifying nucleic acids. U.S. Patent No. 7,759,112 entitled, “Apparatus, system, and method for purifying nucleic acids” protects the Company’s use of its pioneering nucleic acid binding matrix when inserted into a pipette tip, tubing or cartridge for nucleic acid purification. The patent is owned by Akonni Biosystems.
“This patent solidifies Akonni’s intellectual property position in the nearly 700 million dollar nucleic acid extraction market. We believe the use of this methodology has the potential to change the health care industry and impact the identification and treatment of disease by reducing the time it takes to obtain PCR-ready material from clinical samples to just a few minutes,” said Dr. Phil Belgrader, Vice President of Research and Development at Akonni. “This methodology is available today in Akonni’s TruTip product line, where the more rapid extraction of nucleic acids is already accelerating the identification of influenza and cancer markers, speeding genetics research and drug discovery, and even helping solve forensics cases faster.”
TruTip Extraction Kits were released to the market last November and are the latest products by Akonni Biosystems to be protected by a U.S. Patent. When used with Mettler Toledo RAININ EDP 3-Plus Advanced Electronic Pipettes with LTS, TruTip Extraction Kits are not only fast and easy to use, but will concentrate DNA/RNA on the order of 5 to 20 fold and offer the same yield and purity as traditional methods without requiring any major capital equipment. TruTip Extractions Kits are also available for Eppendorf’s epMotion liquid handling systems when ultra-rapid, hands-free automation and sample throughput from 16 to 384 extractions per day is important.