GTG awarded further patents and forensic accreditation

Genetic Technologies' (ASX: GTG) non-coding DNA analysis and foetal cell separation patents have been allowed by the Canadian Patent Office -- almost 15 years after the company filed its first non-coding DNA patent.

Executive chairman Dr Mervyn Jacobson said the allowance provided significant validation of GTG's patents, which have been much criticised in recent years. Canada was the last of 24 countries to allow the patents -- and from the time the first non-coding DNA analysis patent was allowed in the US in 1993, not one country has rejected the patents, he said.

He noted that despite the long lag time between filing for approval in Canada and receiving the allowance, it was positive for the company.

"Here we're seeing that 15 years after the patent was filed, with all the new information out there, government patent offices are saying it is appropriate and should be granted. So the early granted patents were not ill-considered," Jacobson said.

GTG has also received formal accreditation from the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) to offer forensic DNA testing services, making it the first private laboratory in Australia providing such services.

"It was always puzzling to us that there was no independent forensic testing laboratory in Australia," Jacobson said. "For us it's an exciting achievement and an opportunity to expand our vision of public-private partnerships."

Jacobson said the company was ready to begin offering its forensic testing services immediately.

"We have already had discussions with state forensics laboratories about referring some of their backlog to GTG," he said. "We expect over a period of time that work -- which could involve tens of thousands of samples -- will start to flow in."