Atelerix’s newest patent application extends protection to preserving viruses
Atelerix has received notification that its newest patent application has been published pertaining to the STORING AND/OR TRANSPORTING OF EXTRACELLULAR NUCLEIC ACIDS (WO 2022/101640). This application was made after the surprising observation that Atelerix’s hydrogel-encapsulation technology (in the form of SwabReady™) was able to extend the shelf life of free Coronavirus samples when stored at room temperature. Whilst in conventional viral transport medium viral function fell to non-detectable levels after 3 days, SwabReady™ extended this to at least 2 weeks with no drop-off in viral function (a massive 5-fold extension in shelf life). This spurred further studies into other viruses such as Lentivirus where the performance of SwabReady™ was equally impressive with no drop-off in viral function after 2 weeks, whilst this fell to non-detectable levels by 3 days in the control.
With no observable drop-off in performance over time, Atelerix is actively looking at extending room temperature storage from weeks to months, as well as widening the number of viruses tested using our technology. It is hoped that this will form the basis for developing products to improve the surveillance of active and emerging viruses, provide an off the shelf solution for the non-cryo distribution of viral vectors, and even increase the equitable access of RNA-based vaccines through removing the need for ultra-low temperature shipment.
