JW Holdings announced on May 25 that the original technology for sepsis early diagnostic kit using the world's first WRS, which is being developed by its grandchild company JW Bioscience, has received a patent registration decision from the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO).
JW Bioscience's patented technology received a technology transfer from the Pharmaceutical Bio-Convergence Research Group (Director Kim Sung-hoon) in May 2016 for "the composition and diagnostic marker detection method to diagnose infectious diseases or infectious complications using WRS."
In a paper published in the 2016 journal Nature Microbiology, the WRS is a biomarker that has been confirmed to be secreted into the bloodstream more quickly than ever, including TNF-alpha, IL-6, the major inflammatory substances that cause cytokine storms.
At that time, the research was conducted jointly by Professor Kim Sung-hoon of Underwood Int'l College of Yonsei University and Professor Jin Mi-rim of Gachon University Medical School.
So far, there has been a way to diagnose sepsis using PCT and CRP, but JW Bioscience is the only company in the world that has the technology to determine whether a disease is present or not with WRS.
In particular, existing sepsis diagnostic markers were able to diagnose only bacterial infections, but WRS is also capable of diagnosing sepsis caused by viruses and fungi.
JW Bioscience acquired patents in South Korea in 2017 regarding WRS diagnosis technology and has applied for patents in Europe, China and Japan in addition to the U.S.
JW Bioscience is currently conducting clinical trials at Sinchon Severance Hospital, Gachon University Gil Hospital and Seoul St. Mary's Hospital to develop WRS diagnostic kits, and plans to apply for item approval in the second half of this year.
"It is very important that we do not miss the golden time for the treatment of sepsis, which is considered a major cause of death," a JW Bioscience official said. "As we are developing WRS diagnostic kits through open innovation with domestic and foreign researchers, we will focus our efforts on commercializing them successfully."
Sepsis refers to symptoms that are strongly immune to life-threatening infections caused by microbes such as germs, viruses and fungi. According to the Global Sepsis Alliance (GSA), 30 million people develop sepsis each year, killing 8 million people (14 percent of the world's deaths). The fatality rate of sepsis is about 30 percent, and in the event of septic shock following the drop of blood pressure, the death rate goes up to 80 percent.
According to research firm Marketsand Markets, the diagnosis market for global sepsis is expected to grow 9.1 percent annually from $396 million in 2018 to $613.9 million in 2023.
