Sangui Bio has a strong and broad patent portfolio, that is managed by the legal and patent firm – Spruson and Ferguson. 

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Patent family  1 – Blood Preparation and Profiling

 

This IP is focused on the detection of cytokines in red blood cells. In summary, isolated RBCs were obtained and we quantified of a panel of 48 cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors in the lysate, cytosol, and conditioned media of these cells using Luminex® technology. This analysis revealed that, after correcting for white blood cell and platelet contamination, 46 cytokines were detected in RBC lysates, and the median concentration in RBCs was 12-fold higher than in the plasma.

 

Karsten et al., 2018, “Red blood cells are dynamic reservoirs of cytokines”, Sci Rep., 8(1):3101

 

The patent disclosure relates to protein profiling in the blood and, in particular, methods for producing or generating blood protein profiles, including cytokine and/or chemokine profiles, in red blood cell-enriched blood samples.

 

Granted in USA (US 11243218 B2), Japan, China, Australia, Europe (validated in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and UK)

 

A continuation of this application is active in the USA - United States of America Patent Application No. 17/845451 

 

 

Patent family 2 – Therapeutic methods using erythrocytes

 

This IP is focused on RBCs that have been intentionally modified by alteration of their cytokine profile. These modified RBCs can affect T-cell activity. This process has been demonstrated by exposure of RBCs to a cancer cell line in culture.  This was used to alter the cytokine profile of intact RBCs and the effect of these modified RBCs (ccRBCs) on T-cells was evaluated using flow cytometry. This paper below supports the hypothesis that RBCs are capable of binding and releasing cytokines in blood, and that modification of these cells can then also affect the T-cell response.

 

Karsten et al., 2020, “Red blood cells exposed to cancer cells in culture have altered cytokine profiles and immune function”, Sci Rep., 10(1):7727

 

Granted in USA (US 11564948 B2) Pending in Japan, China, Australia, Europe, Canada

 

The patent disclosure relates to methods for modulating the level of proteins in a subject or in target cells by priming red blood cells with various agents or conditions that modulate the levels of proteins associated with red blood cells and administering the primed red blood cells to a subject. The disclosed methods represent a novel use of red blood cells primed to express a number of proteins, as cell therapies for numerous diseases or disorders.

 

Patent family 3 – Blood profiling with protease inhibitors

 

This IP is focused on the detection of cytokines in red blood cells. In summary, isolated RBCs were obtained and treated with various cocktails of protease inhibitors. The cytokine profile obtained from naïve RBCs and protease inhibitor treated RBCs is different. This particularly observed in the conditioned media of these treated and untreated RBCs. In addition, there are cytokine differences observed from RBCs isolated from patients with diseases that are significantly different from control, healthy RBCs.

 

Granted in USA (US 11693006 B2) Pending in Japan, China, Australia, Europe, Canada

 

The patent disclosure relates to methods for generating blood protein profiles from whole blood, red blood cell enriched blood samples, or red blood cell components. The methods involve the comparison of protein levels before and after incubation with protease inhibitors, or the comparison of protein levels after incubation in the presence and absence of protease inhibitors.

 

 

Patent family 4 – Volumetric absorptive microsampling devices and methods of using the same

 

This IP is focused on microsampling of blood in the form of dried blood spots and has several advantages: the convenience of sample collection (small volume and no special equipment or personnel required); the ease of storage and transport; the accessibility of at-home and remote community sampling; and the application of these to longitudinal studies.

 

The IP and associated papers and conference posters present various wash buffer combinations (salts, organic solvents, acids, detergents) and demonstrate (using DIA-MS) that we can quantify greater than 3,500 proteins from whole blood and 1,000 proteins from double spun plasma. The flexibility of these methods enables multiple extractions from a single tip for multiplexing of different analyses (i.e. extraction for immunochemistry assay followed by extraction and digestion for mass spectrometry) and they are applicable to a wide range of sample types including whole blood, plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), red blood cell pellets, saliva, and cell lines.

 

PCT application: WO2023133609 - VOLUMETRIC ABSORPTIVE MICROSAMPLING DEVICES AND METHODS OF USING THE SAME

 

Molloy, M. P., Hill, C., O'Rourke, M. B., Chandra, J., Steffen, P., McKay, J., Pascovici, D., Herbert, B. R. Proteomic analysis of whole blood using volumetric absorptive microsampling for precision medicine biomarker studies. Journal of Proteome Research. (2022).

 

Lucas, N., Hill, C., Karsten, E., McMahon, R., Herbert, B. R. Selective washing of dried blood spots provide enhanced coverage and quantification of the blood proteome. Lorne Proteomics. (2023).