Altos Therapeutics gets second issued patent covering new dopamine D2/D3 antagonists

The patent broadly and specifically covers the company’s dopamine D2/D3 drug candidates, their pharmaceutical compositions, and their use to treat a number of important gastrointestinal conditions in humans, such as gastroparesis.

The issuance of the Mexican patent follows the previous issuance by the United States Patent and Trademark Office of the patent numbered 8691836, covering a similar set of broad claims.

"The issuance of the patent in Mexico, in addition to that in the USA marks a significant milestone in establishing extended intellectual property protection for our lead compounds" stated Roger Whiting, Ph.D., President and CEO of Altos Therapeutics.

These compounds are currently being developed to meet unmet clinical needs in conditions in which D2 and D3 dopamine receptors have been shown to play key roles. Patent protection in the USA and Mexico should extend to until at least 2031 under present laws and is also pending internationally in other key countries.

D2/D3 receptor antagonists uniquely have a multimodal therapeutic effect including stimulating gastric motility, normalizing gastric rhythm via actions on the enteric nervous system and diminishing nausea and vomiting in a variety of gastrointestinal conditions.

Gastroparesis is a chronic gastric motility disorder characterized by delayed gastric emptying. Symptoms include early satiety, postprandial fullness, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal discomfort. The current approved drug available in the United States for treating these symptoms is metoclopramide, which carries a black box warning for tardive dyskinesia and is limited to acute use.