Evitraproteoma AB offers a protein production service which can manufacture high quality soluble proteins within days for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.  The company is based in Stockholm, Sweden and was formed 9 years ago by Pär Nordlund and Tobias Cornvik.

Challenge
We were approached in 2003 by Pär and Tobias to protect their invention concerning a new method of identifying soluble protein variants.  The method greatly improved prior art methods of identifying soluble proteins which either took a long time to perform, involved labour intensive pipetting steps or did not always provide a reliable indication of solubility.  The method involved directly screening cell colonies for the production of soluble protein variants, including steps of direct colony lysis, filtration and the detection of soluble protein in the filtrate.  The challenge was therefore to draft a patent application which reflected the method steps which would need to be carried out in order to identify soluble protein variants and to protect the client's commercial interests to enable possible exploitation of their technology.

Solution
A patent application was drafted and was filed in the UK in July 2003.  A year later a PCT application was filed claiming priority from the original UK filing and at the appropriate time, national/regional filings were carried out in Australia, Canada, USA and Europe.  Examination of all the filed applications resulted in a positive outcome with patents being obtained in Australia, Canada, USA and Europe which encompassed the commercial method used by Evitraproteoma.  We provided Evitraproteoma with advice regarding the validation of the European patent and patents were subsequently obtained in the UK, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy and Spain. 

Benefits
The granted patents obtained by Dehns on behalf of Evitraproteoma AB have allowed the company to offer either a technology transfer package or an in-house service to resolve challenging protein production problems faced by third parties.  Thus, by patenting their method, Evitraproteoma can now offer their method (named SPOTLIGHT) for licence to pharmaceutical companies or where a licence is not desired, can carry out the method for companies to resolve their production issues, generating revenue.  The patented SPOTLIGHT system has therefore been essential for Evitraproteoma and their business development.