Titan Pharmaceuticals has reported that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance for Titan’s US patent application directed to the use of Probuphine for the treatment of opiate addiction.
The patent application is US Application No 10/453377 filed June 2, 2003 titled ‘Implantable polymeric device for sustained release of buprenorphine’. The newly allowed claims include subject matter covering a method for treating patients diagnosed with opiate addiction using a small implantable rod shaped polymeric matrix comprising buprenorphine blended with ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer.
Sunil Bhonsle, president of Titan, said: “We are very pleased to announce receipt of this Notice of Allowance issued by the USPTO. This represents an element for establishing the long term value of Probuphine, and upon issuance, these allowed patent claims are expected to provide intellectual property protection for Probuphine to middle of 2023.”
Marc Rubin, executive chairman of Titan, said: “Probuphine represents an innovative technology that offers a number of potential advantages over existing therapies and may improve treatment outcome. Specifically, as an implantable delivery system, it may improve treatment compliance over an extended period while also reducing the risk of drug diversion.”