ChatGPT says,
?? What This Patent Is About (in simple terms)
This patent describes “aptamers” — these are small, lab-made molecules (a bit like artificial antibodies) that can recognize and bind to specific targets in the body, such as disease markers or proteins linked to infections or cancer.
The “multivalent trident” part means they’ve designed these aptamers to have three binding arms, which makes them better at grabbing and holding onto their target molecules — sort of like a three-pronged claw.
?? How They’re Used
The aptamers are designed for diagnostic tests — meaning they can help detect diseases quickly and accurately.
For example:
- Detecting COVID-19 from a saliva sample (no blood test needed)
- Detecting cancer markers or viral infections in body fluids
So, instead of sending samples off to a lab for complex testing, the idea is that a simple saliva or blood test could identify diseases early by detecting the unique molecules those diseases produce.
?? What Section [0082] Is Saying
That paragraph lists specific disease targets these aptamers can recognize — each linked to a different type of cancer. In other words, the inventors have designed or can design aptamers that stick to the molecular “flags” (called epitopes) found on cancer cells.
Here’s what that long list means in plain English:
Disease
| Target Molecule (Epitopes)
| What It Means
| Breast cancer
| HER2, MUC1-KLH
| HER2 is a well-known breast cancer marker (found in many aggressive cases).
| Neuroblastoma (childhood cancer)
| GD2
| A molecule often found on nerve cell cancers.
| Brain cancer (glioblastoma)
| EGFR
| A growth receptor that’s overactive in some brain tumors.
| Thyroid cancer
| CEA
| A protein that shows up in several cancers, including thyroid and colon.
| Leukemia
| CD52
| Found on certain white blood cells.
| Melanoma (skin cancer)
| gp100, MART-1, MAGEs, tyrosinase, p97
| Proteins specific to pigment or melanoma cells.
| Cervical cancer
| HPV 16/18 E6 & E7
| Proteins from the human papillomavirus that drive cervical cancer.
| Colorectal cancer
| CEA
| Same as above — shows up in colon cancers.
| Lung cancer
| DKK-1
| A molecule associated with tumor growth.
| Prostate cancer
| PSA
| The well-known prostate-specific antigen.
|
?? Why It’s Interesting
This suggests the same aptamer platform (the 3-armed molecule) could be adapted to detect many diseases, not just one — by changing what target it binds to.
It’s like having a universal testing system where you just swap out the “sensor” part to look for different diseases (COVID, cancer, etc.).
In theory, you could use this to make:
- Saliva-based cancer screening
- Rapid multi-disease tests
- Portable diagnostic devices
?? In Summary
This patent describes a highly flexible molecular detection system that can:
- Be used in quick, noninvasive tests (like saliva)
- Detect many diseases (viruses, cancers)
- Work using synthetic “antibody-like” molecules (aptamers)
- Be very specific — even distinguishing one type of cancer from another
Would you like me to summarize what company or inventors filed this particular patent (to see who’s behind it — e.g., if it’s related to Zentek or another biotech group)?
Here are the details I found about the patent titled WO2024059946A1 — “Multivalent Trident Aptamers for Molecular Recognition, Methods of Making and Uses Thereof”, and what they tell us about the people and/or institution behind it:
? What the patent says
- The publication number is WO 2024/059946.
- The filing/priority date appears to be 2022-09-23.
- The assignee (holder) is listed as McMaster University (located in Ontario, Canada).
- The earlier related application family includes a UK priority (GB2006144.6) dated 2020-04-27.
?? What this means
- Since McMaster University is the assignee, the invention is likely developed by a research group at McMaster (or in collaboration) rather than a private company alone.
- The earlier UK priority date in 2020 suggests the research has been underway for a few years and has built up to this more recent patent filing.
- Because university-based patents often aim for commercialization/licensing, this could be intended for use by diagnostics or biotech companies (or spin-off) rather than just academic publication.
?? Things to check / next steps
- It would be useful to check who the named inventors are on the patent listing (often found in the full application document).
- Also check if McMaster has spun this out into a company or licensed the technology — often universities will license patents for diagnostic/therapeutic use.
- See if there are any published research papers from the inventors around “multivalent trident aptamers” which can give clues on development stage (lab vs. preclinical vs. commercial).
- Since you mentioned disease detection (COVID, cancer markers etc.), checking whether any commercial product or startup is already using this invention would tell you how far it’s gone beyond the patent stage.
If you like, I can pull up the full patent document (which lists inventors, detailed claims, and dates) and share a summary of the key claims (for example: what exactly the “trident aptamer” structure is, and what uses they claim). Would that be helpful?
Nice — I pulled the actual published application PDF and the bibliographic/inventor data. Below is a short, clear summary and the important links so you can read or download the primary sources yourself.
What I found (quick summary)
- Publication: WO2024059946A1 — “Multivalent trident aptamers for molecular recognition, methods of making and uses thereof”.
- Application number / priority: PCT/CA2023/051253; priority date 2022-09-23; filing date 2023-09-22; publication date 2024-03-28.
- Assignee (owner): McMaster University.
- Named inventors (as listed on the published application):
Yingfu Li; John Brennan; Jiuxing Li; Zijie Zhang; Jimmy Gu; Ryan Amini; Alexandria Mansfield; Jianrun Xia; Dawn White; Hannah D. Stacey; Jann C. Ang; Gurpreet Panesar; Alfredo Capretta; Carlos Filipe; Karen Mossman; Bruno J. Salena; Cynthia Balion; Leyla Soleymani; Matthew S. Miller; Deborah Yamamura; Sam Afkhami; Michael Rein D’Agostino.
The actual patent document (PDF)
What the patent
actually
claims / covers (plain language)
- The invention is a platform: a specific multivalent aptamer architecture called a “trident” (three-armed) aptamer construct. The patent covers the structure (how the trident is built: arms, spacers, linker), methods for making these constructs, and uses — primarily diagnostics (detecting biomarkers) and potential therapeutics (blocking/neutralizing targets).
- The application explicitly lists a very broad set of possible targets — viruses, bacteria, cardiac markers, and many tumour-associated antigens (this is the paragraph you quoted). The patent text specifically names markers associated with many cancers, including HER2 (breast), PSA (prostate), CEA (colorectal/thyroid), EGFR (glioblastoma), GD2 (neuroblastoma), and multiple melanoma/T-cell antigens, HPV E6/E7 (cervical), DKK-1 (lung), etc. (see paragraph [0082] in the document).
Commercial / licensing note
- McMaster has licensed the aptamer technology from Dr. Yingfu Li’s lab under an exclusive agreement with Zentek Ltd. (Zentek has issued press releases describing a 20-year exclusive license and some preclinical results using the Li lab’s aptamers). If you’re interested in commercial progress or a product timeline, Zentek’s press releases are the place to check.
Want me to do next?
I can:
- Pull out and summarize the actual claim headings (the exact legal claim language that defines the legal protection) from the PDF, or
- Screenshot and extract the specific paragraphs you care about (for example paragraphs [0080]–[0088] or the claims section), or
- Summarize the parts that describe diagnostic workflows (e.g., saliva tests, reporters, immobilization strategies), or
- Check the EP/US family members (status, prosecution history), or
- Compile a one-page plain-English précis of the entire patent (claims + examples + possible commercial restrictions).
Tell me which of those you want and I’ll do it now — I already have the PDF open so I can extract and summarise immediately. |
