Detecting botulinum or tetanus toxins: US Pat. No. 7,638,294

U.S. Patent No. 7,638,294, issued on December 29, 2009 to Allergan, Inc. of Irvine, CA, discloses a fluorescence-based assay to determine the presence or activity of clostridial toxins, such as botulinum and tetanus toxins.

Botulism and tetanus are caused by highly potent neurotoxins produced by bacteria of the genus Clostridium.  For example, the presence of nanograms of botulinum neurotoxin can be fatal, which, surprisingly to me, hasn’t prevented people from injecting it into their faces (Allergan’s Botox® cosmetic injections) .  The patent discloses a way to test for the presence and activity of such toxins in the food and pharmaceutical industries while avoiding drawbacks of current methods (e.g., a mouse lethality test). 

Allergan, a global, $3 billion multi-specialty health care company, is the assignee of about 60 U.S. patents that issued in 2009 about 72 in 2008, and about 55 in 2007.  Allergan is currently suing the FDA, alleging that the ban on off-label marketing to health-care professionals of Botox®, namely the dissemination of safety data on its use to treat muscle spasticity, violates the company’s free speech rights.