BiBBInstruments AB announced that the Company has received an additional Intention to Grant from the European Patent Office (EPO). The announcement means that the EPO intends to approve the Company's first patent family in Europe for EndoDrill, the world's first CE-marked electric-driven endoscopic biopsy instrument. This is the second Intention to Grant notice from the EPO in first quarter of 2023 relating to the EndoDrill patent portfolio and includes important characteristics of the method.

A few formal steps will follow before a final notice of approval can be issued, after which the granted patent will be valid until October 2038. BIBB has received an Intention to Grant from the EPO to approve the EPC application 18199230.6 in Europe regarding the first patent family (Patent family No. 1) for the electric-driven EndoDrill system.

In January 2023, it was communicated that the Company's first patent application in Europe had received an Intention to Grant, and now a second Intention to Grant has been received, meaning that also the first patent family is intended to be approved in Europe. Patent family No. 1 complements the initial European patent and provides additional protection for the motorized biopsy system.

In addition, two other patent families have entered the national phase, where BiBB expects injunctions and announcements during 2023-2024. The EndoDrill system is currently in clinical phase and the product family will be offered to hospitals working with advanced endoscopy, so-called endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), to improve diagnostics in some of the most serious cancers, such as stomach, pancreas, liver, lung and bladder cancer.