Diatech gets peptide labeling patent

Peptide imaging agent developer Diatech of Londonderry, NH, hasreceived a broad patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Officecovering its core technology of attaching peptides to technetium-99mradioisotopes. The patent covers Diatech's work on several products,including agents for imaging disease states such as deep veinthrombosis, pulmonary emboli, tumors and atherosclerotic plaque.Diatech said the patent puts it in a strong proprietary positionas it works to commercialize the agents.

The company also announced this month that it has receiveda $100,000 grant from the Heart and Lung Blood Institute divisionof the National Institutes of Health to research a potential newtherapeutic agent for the treatment of blood clots.