By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com — Progenity Inc (NASDAQ:PROG) stock fell 5.6% Wednesday, despite news the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued it four patents.
At the time of writing, Progenity shares are trading at $2.10. They initially rose to a high of $2.49 earlier in the session, retracing soon after.
The biotechnology firm said the patents relate to its ingestible technologies for the delivery of therapeutics through the gastrointestinal tract.
The first patent is named “Ingestible device for delivery of therapeutic agent to the gastrointestinal tract,” and is regarding techniques and devices for delivering a therapeutic agent into gastrointestinal tissue.
The second patent is to treat inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract with a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor.
Additionally, it received a third patent entitled “Treatment of a disease of the gastrointestinal tract with a SMAD7 inhibitor,” and a fourth under the title of “Treatment of a disease of the gastrointestinal tract with a chemokine/chemokine receptor inhibitor.”
All four of the patents fall under Progenity's GI-targeted therapeutics portfolio, which comprises more than 170 issued patents and continuing applications.
“We believe we hold one of the most robust ingestible device patent portfolios,” said Eric d’Esparbes, interim CEO of Progenity.
“The addition of these recent patents further strengthens our intellectual property position and underscores our commitment to innovation in advancing therapeutic discovery, development, and delivery,” he added.