Devicare patents theobromine as an inhibitor of uric acid crystals in urine
<p>The company will add it to its Lit-Control® pH Up food supplement in 2017 to boost efficacy</p>
Devicare, a Catalan company devoted to home care for chronic patients with frequent urology conditions, has been granted the patent to use theobromine by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office. This substance is derived from the cacao tree and inhibits the formation of uric acid crystals in urine.
This will allow the company to use theobromine and its derivatives to treat and prevent frequent urology conditions associated with urine pH, like urinary and renal lithiasis (kidney stones). In 2017, Devicare will add it to its Lit-Control® pH Up food supplement to make it more effective. This supplement, which has been on sale in pharmacies in Spain since 2016, helps promote urinary health by making urine more alkaline and inhibiting crystallization of substances like uric acid.
Devicare is the exclusive patent holder and is marketing the product itself. According to company CEO Rosendo Garganta, “We are open to licensing this family of patents so that biotechnology companies can develop medicines based on theobromine.”
The company has begun international extension of the theobromine patent in Europe, the United States, Canada, South Korea, China, India, Japan and Mexico, in line with the expected international expansion of its product line over the coming years. The company has developed a method for patients to monitor their own frequent urology conditions at home, which consists of the Lit-Control pH Meter medical device and the Lit-Control® pH Up, Lit-Control® pH Down and Lit-Control® pH Balance food supplements.
Devicare has also recently obtained the Spanish patent for an ion sensor that is used in the Lit-Control® pH Meter device. In total, the company has a portfolio of 8 families of patents.