CST Expands its Patent Portfolio on Motif-Specific Antibodies

Cell Signaling Technology, Inc. has announced that it has been issued a second U.S. Patent (No. 6,982,318) covering a class of motif-specific and context-independent antibodies, and has received a notice of allowance in a third U.S. application directed to the same technology.

CST's patent portfolio covers antibodies that are capable of binding modified motifs, such as phosphorylated kinase consensus motifs and protein-protein binding motifs, as well as a method for producing them.

These antibodies are useful for profiling protein modification, and can be used to identify signaling pathways in cells and to study alterations of these pathways in disease.

"The issuance of this second patent and allowance of the third further validates Cell Signaling Technology's leadership in providing new and powerful proprietary reagents that are improving the field of signal transduction research," said James G. Cullem, J.D., the company's Director of Intellectual Property & Licensing.

"In order to advance closer to the reality of personalized medicine and highly predictive diagnostics, we need to better understand the signaling defects that are driving diseases like cancer," said Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Comb, Ph.D., "and this powerful class of antibodies will help make that understanding possible."

The company has also been issued a patent covering the technology in Japan, and expects similar issuances in Canada and Europe in the near future.