Cyntellect issued patent covering LaserFect(TM) technology

Cyntellect a privately-held biotechnology company, has announced the issuance of U.S. Patent No. 6,753,161 covering the Company's LaserFect(TM) technology.

LaserFect represents the first technology to enable high-efficiency, low-toxicity delivery of a wide variety of important biomolecules (proteins, drugs, siRNA, ions) into cells for basic research, drug discovery and clinical purposes. The issuance of the LaserFect patent represents further strengthening of the Company's portfolio of issued U.S. patents covering its core technology and related applications.

LaserFect combines high-speed cell imaging and pinpoint laser manipulation to permeabilize individual cells enabling intra-cellular delivery of many different biomolecules with little, to no, toxic effects. LaserFect will enable researchers to broaden the scope of biomolecules that can be studied in cellular assays and enable delivery of these biomolecules into a much wider variety of cell types, including those previously impervious for transfection (e.g. B cells, neurons).

"Current approaches for delivering biomolecules into cells on a meaningful scale are limited to the delivery of DNA and utilize approaches that are highly toxic or induce abnormal cell physiology," stated Dr. Fred Koller, President and CTO. "LaserFect offers the potential to open up the architecture for cell-based assays by enabling highly efficient and non-toxic delivery of many different biomolecules such as proteins, ions, small molecules and quantum dots into a wide variety of cell types in a simple, rapid and robust bench-top solution." Cyntellect is currently planning to employ the LaserFect technology onto a low-cost bench-top instrument that will be commercialized with a global life sciences partner.