Vancouver, Wash-based Oasis Diagnostics has entered into an agreement to license salivary diagnostic technology from scientists working in Denmark (Drs Balwant Rai and Jasdeep Kaur) for the detection, monitoring, and diagnosis of sleep disorders.

The discovery by the inventors covers a series of salivary biomarkers in saliva specimens that are modified (up-or-down-regulated) in patients suffering from common sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) or sleep deprivation, according to a release by Oasis.

Oasis CEO Paul D. Slowey, PhD, says, “We are very pleased to have gained access to a technology that can facilitate non-invasive diagnosis of sleep disorders in real time.” The integration of the sensitive, specific biomarker technology for sleep disorders with Oasis’ proprietary VerOFy Point-of-Care Testing platform will open up opportunities to detect OSA in clinics, doctors’ offices, dental practices, and other point-of-care settings using saliva as the preferred sample type, Oasis states. Currently there is a dearth of biomarkers available to diagnose this widespread disorder, while multiple simple opportunities for intervention and treatment exist. Contrary to other biomarkers used for diagnosis of sleep apnea, Oasis states that the biomarkers covered under this agreement are not light sensitive, a feature that will open up the possibility for sleep studies to be performed in multiple settings and not just in purpose built, blacked out “sleep units.”

Oasis will work closely with the inventors to file additional patents to protect the technology and work to develop a non-invasive tool for sleep disorders that will deliver immediate results in 20 minutes at the point-of-care using saliva specimens.