AXIS-Shield, the Scottish-Norwegian maker of medical diagnostic kits, yesterday announced that the US Patent Office had granted an umbrella patent governing use of cyclic citrullinated peptides (CCP) in the diagnosis and monitoring of rheumatoid arthritis, which covers the company's anti-CCP arthritis test.
The company, which has its headquarters in Dundee and Oslo and makes diagnostic systems for doctors' offices and other points of care, says its anti-CCP test is more accurate than rival early-diagnostic tests for rheumatoid arthritis conditions.
Ian Gilham, Axis-Shield chief executive, said the test was one of Axis-Shield's fastest-growing products.
He added: "We look forward to growing the market for anti-CCP as it becomes more widely available on the automated immunoassay systems of our commercial partners and its better performance compared to other tests in this area becomes established."
The current market for anti-CCP tests is estimated by the company at more than four million tests per year and Axis-Shield said it was growing at a rate of more than 20% per year.
The company, which was formed in 1999 through the merger of Dundee-based Shield Diagnostics and Norwegian competitor Axis, said that the US patent complements similar patents issued in Europe.
Shares in Axis-Shield yesterday climbed 1.1%, or 3p, to 277p.
In March, the company unveiled a 41% increase in pre-tax profits to £2.9m on the back of solid sales of its Afinion testing system in its first full year on the market.
At the same time, revenues were up 9.7% to £66.7m, driven by its point-of-care division.
