Benzinga | Oct 28, 2020 08:05AM EDT

ENDRA Life Sciences Issued Fifth European Patent That Protects Its TAEUS Platform For Imaging Biological Tissue Structures

Newly issued patent expands TAEUS' addressable market potential beyond $21 billion NAFLD-NASH diagnostic opportunity

ANN ARBOR, MI / ACCESSWIRE / October 28, 2020 / ENDRA Life Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:NDRA), a pioneer of Thermo Acoustic Enhanced UltraSound (TAEUS(r)), announces it has been issued European Patent EP 3 294 142 B1 (the '142 patent) from the European Patent Office, entitled "Systems and Methods for Imaging Biological Tissue Structures." The issuance of this patent covers indications for TAEUS beyond measuring fat in the liver, and brings ENDRA's total number of patent assets to 75 worldwide, including five in Europe.

"The granting of our fifth European patent - and third in Europe in the last month - bolsters our intellectual property protection at a key stage of commercialization," said ENDRA's Chief Executive Officer, Francois Michelon. "As a reminder, in September, we established our first clinical evaluation reference site in Germany. We expect to finalize plans for two more in Europe in the coming months, as we concurrently ramp up sales efforts in this major global market, where the TAEUS Fatty Liver Imaging Probe System received CE Mark approval for targeting Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) earlier in the year."

"Moreover, this new patent expands the potential clinical applications for TAEUS beyond NAFLD-NASH to provide clinicians with, for example, point-of-care tools to visualize micro-vascular fluid flows in tissues damaged by cancer or trauma. "This goes beyond ENDRA's current addressable market in liver disease diagnostics, which according to a 2020 report by Grandview Research represents a $21 billion opportunity," added Michelon.

ENDRA's goal is to develop applications for its proprietary TAEUS technology in areas of high unmet clinical need and for which there are no practical existing tools. The '142 patent covers a system and method for imaging biological tissue structures, which defines a hybrid integrated ultrasound/thermoacoustic system and method that locates and registers the ultrasound and thermoacoustic portions of the invention, relative to each other. The '142 patent complements ENDRA's European patent EP 3 294 143 B1, which relates to a system and method that utilizes separate ultrasound/thermoacoustic systems concurrently.

ENDRA's global IP portfolio continues to grow and currently stands at 75 assets, which are defined as in preparation, filed, issued or licensed.