The patent that issues will broadly and specifically cover the company’s drug candidates, their pharmaceutical compositions, and their use for treating a number of important gastrointestinal conditions in humans, such as gastroparesis.
The issuance in the US will mark a significant milestone in establishing patent coverage for this important family of compounds throughout the world.
These compounds are currently being developed to meet unmet clinical needs in conditions that are responsive to dopamine D2/D3 receptor antagonist activity. Patent protection in the US and other countries around the world is expected to extend through 2031 under present laws.
Altos Therapeutics president and CEO Dr Roger Whiting said: this represents an important milestone in the development of the company, as extended intellectual property protection of its lead compounds will be a crucial aspect of our strategy to develop novel molecules for these disease states.
D2/D3 receptor antagonists 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 diabetic gastroparesis symptoms is metoclopramide, which suffers from a black box warning for tardive dyskinesia and is limited to acute use.