Vermillion Announces Notice of Issuance of U.S. Patent Covering Hepcidin as a Biomarker for Ovarian Cancer

Vermillion, Inc. has announced that the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) has issued a notice of allowance to the Company for the discovery of hepcidin as a biomarker for ovarian cancer.

The discovery could ultimately lead to the development of an improved, next-generation assay that might provide physicians with additional, valuable information to diagnose ovarian cancer.

"The notice of issuance of this patent validates the strength of our approach in the development of innovative molecular diagnostics," said Eric T. Fung, M.D., Ph.D, Chief Scientific Officer of Vermillion and co-inventor. "This patent comprises an important component of our ovarian cancer patent portfolio."

The patent also covers the measurement of hepcidin by a variety of methods, including mass spectrometry and other immunoassay approaches.