JW Bioscience’s technology using tryptophanyl tRNA synthetase (WRS) as a biomarker for early diagnosis of sepsis, or blood poisoning, has been registered as a source technology from the European Patent Office.

The company has secured an advantageous position in the global in-vitro diagnostic market with the current registration and patents obtained in the U.S., Japan, and China.

JW Bioscience, a subsidiary of JW Life Science, plans to continue filing a patent in European countries and complete the final registration.

The company is preparing a clinical trial with Severance Hospital to develop a diagnostic device using WRS to receive approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and plans to apply for authorization by the end of 2021.

JW Bioscience said it is the only company in the global market that holds a patent in the global market for detecting infectious diseases such as sepsis with WRS.

Existing sepsis diagnostic biomarkers were only capable of testing for infections caused by bacteria. However, the company expects its technology to be valuable for checking infectious diseases, including the Covid-19 and bacterial blood infection, as viruses and fungi also activate WRS.

A study published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases in 2020 showed that WRS could be more useful in early detection and predicting mortality of sepsis than the existing biomarkers procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), and interleukin-6 (IL-6).

“Our technology has been recognized globally for its competitiveness by securing patents for diagnosing blood infection using WRS,” a JW Bioscience official said. “We will on addressing unmet medical needs in the global in-vitro diagnostic field.”

The company acquired the source technology from Medicinal Bioconvergence Research Center in 2016 and obtained a domestic patent in 2017.

According to a global market research firm Research and Markets, the world’s sepsis diagnosis market is likely to reach $700 million by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.5 percent from $429 million in 2019.