By Brittany Knight* and Anthony Sabatelli** --
The past year was a big year for FDA approved new drugs and biologics -- 59 in fact, compared to 46 in 2017 and a mere 22 in 2016. From the published list of approvals on the FDA website Novel Drug Approvals for 2018, we compiled data on the listed patents associated with these drugs. As a whole, the 59 drugs included 42 "conventional", i.e., small molecule drugs, of which 35 were new chemical entities (NCEs approved via a New Drug Application or NDA), and 17 were biological molecules (approved via a Biological License Application or BLA). For background, "conventional" drugs are small (i.e., generally under 1000 molecular weight), synthetically manufactured chemical entities that are chemically and molecularly well-characterized. Currently, these drugs make up the majority of approved drugs. Information regarding patents and exclusivity for these "conventional" drugs is referenced in the Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, also known as the 'Orange Book'[i].
On the other hand, biological molecules or 'biologics' are a newer class of drugs that are either produced in living organisms or contain biological materials. Compared to their small molecule chemical counterparts, biologics are not as easily characterized. Examples of biologics include, vaccines, gene therapies, cellular biologics, and recombinant proteins. More limited information regarding biologic drug products can be located in the 'Lists of Licensed Biological Products with Reference Product Exclusivity and Biosimilarity or Interchangeability Evaluations', also known as the 'Purple Book'[ii]. However, since this book was established in 2014, information regarding pertinent patent and exclusivity of biologics remains a challenge to access. Although the Purple book is still relatively new, the FDA should consider including this patent information in the future. In the table below, each of the 59 approved drugs are listed and for each of the 42 conventional drugs we compiled the listed patents.
In summary, a total of 216 patents are listed for the 42 approved conventional drugs. Nine of these drugs have no listed patents. This turns out to average just over 5 patents per drug. With the most listed patents -- a whopping 21 -- is Alnylam's drug Onpattro (active ingredient - patisiran) for the treatment of hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis or Familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP). FAP is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects approximately 50,000 people worldwide. Second highest with 18 patents was Vitrakvi (larotrectinib) by Loxo and Bayer to treat TRK fusion-related cancers. TRK fusion proteins are known to promote tumor formation in a variety of cancers that affect adults and children. And in third place, with 17 associated patents, is Vertex's Symdeko (tezacaftor; ivacaftor) for the treatment of Cystic fibrosis.
In addition, 2018 was also noteworthy for the approval of GW Pharma's Epidiolex (cannabidiol), a cannabis-related drug (with 8 patents listed). This was an exciting and perhaps controversial approval considering the stigmas, public policy considerations, and current laws regarding marijuana in the United States. Late last year, Surgeon General Jerome Adams asked the U.S. government to reconsider the classification of marijuana. Currently, as it stands marijuana is a schedule I drug with no currently acceptable medical use with high likelihood for abuse. However, the potential health and economic benefits associated with cannabis have yet to wait upon these impending changes to national policy. Additionally, it will be interesting to follow future R&D and intellectual property trends as more approvals are likely to follow in the cannabinoid area in the future. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see the relatively large number of patents listed for Epidiolex.
Summary Table of 2018 Drug Approvals
Note: Drugs are delineated by their approval via New Drug Application (NDA) or Biologics License Application (BLA)
[i] The first print copy of Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations was published around Halloween in 1980, thus inspiring the orange cover and the nickname.
[ii] Since "Orange" became a single-color nickname for Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, the FDA named the book of licensure for biological molecules as the Purple Book. Ironically, this is not a book of conventional sorts and it does not have a Purple cover.
[iii] Patent information for drugs approved via a Biologics License Application (BLA) is not included in the table.
* Brittany Knight is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Program in the Neuroscience Department at the University of Connecticut. Prior to attending the University of Connecticut, Brittany obtained her B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Biology with Global Honors with Distinction from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania.
** Dr. Sabatelli is a Partner with Dilworth IP
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