Medical and Dental Device Patenting Blog : Medical and Dental Patent Lawyer & Attorrney : John Rizvi : Gold & Rizvi Law Firm : Florida, Serving Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, Florida

       Merck & Co, Inc., in collaboration with Arena Pharmaceuticals, is taking a patent pending drug into Phase One of a clinical trial (PharmaLive, January 25, 2008). Merck's second generation niacin receptor agonist is a combatant to artherosclerosis.

        Will the patented drug enter the market?

        According to Arena Pharmaceuticals' President and CEO Jack Lief, so far, so good. This particular trial is part of a larger collaboration between Merck and Arena to discover patented ways to treat artherosclerosis and other disorders. While a recent investigation of MK-0354 broke down in the preclinical trial phase, Lief remains optimistic about the progress they've made with this new drug.
      
       Artherosclerosis accounts for the greatest number of cholesterol-related deaths. So, it makes sense that Merck wants to contribute with drugs aimed at its demise. As a Florida patent attorney, I see pharmaceutical companies racing to market with ever new and innovative solutions to patient ills.

        A great deal of money is spent on patenting drugs that ultimately fail before reaching the market. You might wonder if its worth it. Ask the pharmaceutical companies, however, and the answer is a resounding and emphatic "Yes!" Financial market analysts agree. Patented brand name drugs net huge returns.

        And, as a Florida Patent Attorney who watches the business and financial worlds closely, I can attest to the fact that patents are the driving force behind profits in each and every category.

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       As a Florida Patent Attorney, I track the news relevant to innovators in the medical field and post them here in my blog. Rather than straight reporting, one of the things I do is to give you insights you can use in your own innovations. For instance, today I read that the U.S. Patent Office has issued a patent for Hythiam Inc.'s PROMETA® alcohol and chemical dependence treatment program. I'll give you the scoop on what their patent covers, but I'll also point out the larger health trends the patent links to with the aim of spurring on your own ideation development.

       First, the scoop.

       According to an article at PharmaLive.com (Business Wire, LA, January 10, 2008) PROMETA® is a patented treatment program designed for healthcare providers with patients dependent on alcohol, cocaine, and methamphetamine independently or in combination. It's a holistic treatment program that incorporates nutritional supplements, psychosocial/other therapies chosen by the patient and her treatment provider, and FDA-approved medication given orally and intravenously, which are "separately administered in a unique dosing algorithm."

        As with any treatment program, PROMETA® was developed with the goal of "sustained recovery," What makes it patentable is partly the specifics of the integrated approach and partly the integration itself, which comes at alcohol and chemical addiction from disparate perspectives: the psychology of the individual on his own and in regard to his social environment, his physical health and potentially associated nutritional deficiencies, and a medical/pharmacological perspective.

       And, herein lies the insight.

       This treatment program fuses three macro cultural trends: 1.) An increasing emphasis on the mind-body connection; 2.) an underlying belief that no one perspective is universally "right;" and 3.) a belief that success with patients is borne partly in their own sense of responsibility and involvement.

         Interest in the mind-body connection in particular is a trend that has continued to grow over the last several years, and you can see this in patented products in virtually every category, including fitness, publishing, alternative health practices, the expansion of nutraceuticals into even our soda, etc.

        So, looking at the innovation you're currently or considering working on: Do any of these trends factor in? Could/should they? Or, is there another macro trend evident in your design? Honing in on a trend at play in the larger culture is a way of sharpening your idea and its development. I'm always looking for ways larger cultural trends impact and push forward innovation and would love to help keep the good ideas going with patents and trademarks that protect original, ingenious thinking.

        Contact me if you have an idea you'd like to protect - (866) 433-2288.

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In the last couple of weeks, John Edwards has been creating a stir with talk of offering research cash prizes for the research and development of "breakthrough" drugs—but no patent to go with it. According to Scott Malone (November 13, 2007, Reuters), this is part of Edwards $120B plan to provide healthcare to all Americans.

My question is: If you really want to give generic drug manufacturers an incentive, why not offer them patent protection as a part of the package?

True, removing patent protection gives generic manufacturers a chance to jump into the market sooner, where now they have to wait until the big guys' pharmaceutical patents expire. However, this advantage is short-sighted on two fronts.

First, by not offering the monopoly granted with patent protection, the marketplace would flood with competitors indistinguishable from each other, which would make the profit margins shrink considerably, not to mention quickly.

Secondly, as I mentioned in a previous post, consumers value patented brand names in prescription drugs to a far greater degree than their generic counterparts. If you want to widen the landscape to give the little guys a chance, I'm all for it. But, give them their full due in patent protection, which enables them to compete from a position of strength through proprietary control.

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