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news.Orexigen Therapeutics has announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office has issued US patent for claims covering sustained release compositions of bupropion and naltrexone combined in a single dosage form.
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These two drugs are the active constituents in Contrave, the company’s lead obesity product candidate, now in Phase III clinical trials. Naltrexone SR, a proprietary formulation developed by Orexigen, was designed to improve patient tolerability by altering the pharmacokinetic profile of the original product. Bupropion and naltrexone were selected as the components of Contrave based on pre-clinical trials that showed their ability to both initiate and sustain weight loss when used together.
The patent, referred to by the company as the Weber or Cowley composition patent, provides protection for Contrave through March 2025. Allowance of this patent was first announced in January, and similar claims covering the composition and use of bupropion and naltrexone for affecting weight loss have also been allowed by the European Patent Office.
Gary Tollefson, Orexigen president and CEO, said: “The US composition of matter patent significantly improves the net present value of the Contrave program. We now have exclusive rights to all uses and doses of Contrave for an additional 12 years.”