US patent issued to Metabolon for methods to determine human metabolic age

20 Sept 2010

Metabolon, Inc., has been awarded a US patent for chemical markers and methods to determine the metabolic age of humans.

This is the twelfth patent issued to the company. Metabolon is the exclusive license holder of the Daouk-Kristal patent family which is comprised of early, pioneering patents and patent applications which provide fundamental intellectual property in the field of metabolomics.

As more information regarding the impact of nutrition on health-related issues becomes available and as the population ages, interest in health and nutrition has increased. The metabolism of an individual changes with age. Until recently the ability to monitor metabolite changes has been limited to targeted assays.

With the development of metabolomics analysis, changes in metabolites can now be monitored globally in a non-targeted manner. This metabolomic approach allows a metabolic profile to be determined for a group or an individual.

The ability to determine the metabolite levels of an individual and classify the resulting metabolic profile as positive or negative and then to provide guidance as to how to improve a negative profile will have beneficial effects on the health of an individual.

Metabolon’s previously issued patents include the use of metabolomics for determining biomarkers for disease, including cancer, metabolic disorders, and neurological disorders such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Huntington's Disease, depression and schizophrenia, and for evaluating chemical agents for therapeutic effects and toxicity. Metabolon also owns patents relating to software designed for analyzing metabolomics data.