This past week, biotech startup eNano Health received their first U.S. patent. The Hong Kong-based company was founded in 2010 and has focused on medical screening using saliva since the beginning. eNano's first patent (U.S. Pat. No. 10732169), titled "Personalized healthcare P4 drug monitoring system and method" teaches a method of monitoring drug levels in the body based on saliva samples. The customer simply takes an oral swab, and places the saliva on testing strips. The strips may provide near-instantaneous confirmation of the presence of particular illicit or pharmaceutical drugs, as well as detect certain biomarkers indicative of medical conditions.
After the initial quick-read test, the strips are sent to the lab for a more detailed analysis. Currently, the system is able to detect and accurately quantify biomarkers associated with increased stress levels, pregnancy health issues, diabetes, smoking, stroke, and heart disease. Additionally, the presence of many common illicit and pharmaceutical drugs can be detected. Using a customer's existing medical data in conjunction with the saliva test results, the eNano software is able to provide basic diagnostics as well as lifestyle recommendations to the customer. The system's primary benefit is that only a non-invasive cheek swab is necessary, meaning no expensive office visits or invasive procedures like drawing blood are required.
The current cost to run the tests is also very inexpensive ($10 per eNano's website), and the company recommends only 1-2 tests per year to monitor for the most common health issues like diabetes and heart disease. To stay up to date on the most recent AI Biotech/Diagnostic Patent activity, check out the Magic Number® AI Biotech/Diagnostic Patent Forecast®.
