Today, the cancer diagnostics company BiBBInstruments AB (“BiBB” or the “Company”) announces that the Company has received an additional Intention to Grant from the European Patent Office (“EPO”). The announcement means that the EPO intends to approve the Company’s first patent family in Europe for EndoDrill®, the world’s first CE-marked electric-driven endoscopic biopsy instrument. This is the second Intention to Grant notice from the EPO in Q1 2023 relating to the EndoDrill® patent portfolio and includes important characteristics of the method. A few formal steps will follow before a final notice of approval can be issued, after which the granted patent will be valid until October 2038.
BIBB has received an Intention to Grant from the EPO to approve the EPC application 18199230.6 in Europe regarding the first patent family (“Patent family No. 1”) for the electric-driven EndoDrill® system. In January 2023, it was communicated that the Company’s first patent application in Europe had received an Intention to Grant, and now a second Intention to Grant has been received, meaning that also the first patent family is intended to be approved in Europe. Patent family No. 1 complements the initial European patent and provides additional protection for the motorized biopsy system. In addition, two other patent families have entered the national phase, where BiBB expects injunctions and announcements during 2023–2024.
“We continue to build a robust foundation for the upcoming commercialization of EndoDrill®. We have developed the market’s first electric-driven EUS biopsy system with very promising performance according to the doctors who have evaluated the product so far. During Q1 2023, we have received Intention to Grant notice for two patent applications in Europe, which will give us a strong position as we commercialize our unique biopsy system in Europe”, says Fredrik Lindblad, CEO of BiBB.
The EndoDrill® system is currently in clinical phase and the product family will be offered to hospitals working with advanced endoscopy, so-called endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), to improve diagnostics in some of the most serious cancers, such as stomach, pancreas, liver, lung and bladder cancer.
This is a translation of the Swedish press release. If there should be any discrepancies, the Swedish language version prevails.
For more information about BiBB, please contact:
Fredrik Lindblad, CEO
E-mail: fredrik.lindblad@bibbinstruments.com
Phone: +46 70 899 94 86
www.bibbinstruments.com
This disclosure contains information that BiBBInstruments AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, on March 7, 2023.
About BiBBInstruments AB
BiBBInstruments AB is a medical technology company that develops and markets diagnostic instruments under the brand name EndoDrill® for early detection of cancerous tumors. EndoDrill® is the world’s first CE-marked electric-driven endoscopic biopsy instrument. The product is designed to provide larger and more high-quality tissue samples (core biopsies) of suspected tumors than existing products. The product family will include sampling instruments for many of the most serious cancers, such as stomach, pancreas, liver, lung and bladder cancer. EndoDrill® targets the global market for endoscopic biopsy instruments with a focus on the ultrasound-guided biopsy instruments (EUS-FNA/FNB, EBUS-TBNA) segment, which is the fastest growing area in endoscopy. The company was founded in 2013 by Dr Charles Walther, cancer researcher at Lund University and chief physician in clinical pathology at Skåne University Hospital in Lund.
