Drug repurposing of rimantadine for treatment of cancer.

Repurposing of approved drugs allows strong savings in time and investment. Rimantadine is an FDA-approved drug for prevention and treatment of influenza A infection. Patent US2021330605 describes the use of rimantadine, an adamantane derivative, for the treatment of melanoma, breast cancer and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Rimantadine inhibited proliferation of cell lines of melanoma, breast cancer, and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, increased the survival of mice injected with cancer cell lines and restores the expression of MHC class I. Rimantadine has the potential to be used successfully in the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Drug repurposing of mito-atovaquone for cancer treatment.

Repurposing of approved drugs in a new strategy to combat cancer that leads to savings in time and investment. Atovaquone is a US FDA-approved drug for treatment of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and malaria. Patent US2023017373 describe the use of mito-atovaquone for the treatment of several types of cancer. Mito-atovaquone demonstrated antiproliferative activity in cell lines of pancreatic cancer, lung cancer and brain cancer and inhibited tumor growth in syngeneic mouse models and in animals genetically prone to breast cancer. Mito-atovaquone has the potential to be used successfully in the treatment of various types of tumors.

Patenting trends by Mexican pharmaceutical companies.

Aim: the activity of patent claims by Mexican pharmaceutical companies is unknown. Objective: analyse the trend in patents of Mexican pharmaceutical companies. Method: a search for patents was carried out in the patent database of the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property, using the list of Mexican pharmaceutical companies belonging to the Mexican Association of Pharmaceutical Research Industries, and the codes A61K, A61P and C07 of the International Patent Classification. Results: the leading companies in patent applications were Liomont, Senosiain and RIMSA; however, Mexican pharmaceutical companies claim very few patents, only 266 patent applications in the period 2000-2020, with a technological factor with a value of zero, and a commercial factor of little value. Conclusion: Mexican pharmaceutical companies lack a robust patent system, without growth, and with a low percentage of patents with high commercial value.

Evaluación tecnológica y comercial de patentes universitarias a partir de la identificación de oportunidades comerciales en transferencia de tecnología / Technological and commercial evaluation of university patents based on the identification of commercial opportunities in technology transfer

Resumen Ante la transición a universidades emprendedoras, existe la tendencia a incrementar el patentamiento, aunque sin un estudio profundo del potencial comercial, por lo que el porcentaje de los productos que lo logran es muy bajo. El objetivo de esta investigación fue diseñar una estrategia de evaluación tecnológica y comercial de patentes universitarias a partir de la identificación de oportunidades en transferencia de tecnología (TT). Para ello, se examinaron 269 solicitudes de patente de la Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) y de la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos (UAEM), de acuerdo con la Clasificación Internacional de Patentes (CIP), en un periodo de 10 años (2009-2018), mediante 4 pasos: (a) construcción de la base de datos con la herramienta del Instituto Mexicano de Propiedad Intelectual, (b) identificación de las capacidades inventivas, a través de la Organización Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual, (c) distribución por industrias de intensidad y oportunidad de mercado tecnológico, de acuerdo con la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos, y (d) análisis del comportamiento del mercado, mediante el estudio de las 36 solicitudes del área farmacéutica de ambas universidades. Los resultados mostraron que el 68.4 % de la BUAP y 75.6 % de la UAEM presentan un posicionamiento competitivo predominante en industrias de alta y mediana-alta tecnología. La ventaja de la herramienta propuesta es que permite reconocer la oportunidad del mercado tecnológico a partir de la construcción de escenarios relacionados con el comportamiento de la CIP.

Abstract Given the transition to entrepreneurial universities, there is a tendency to increase patenting, although without a deep study of the commercial potential. Therefore, the percentage of those developments that succeed is very low. The objective of this research was to develop a strategy for the technological and commercial evaluation of university patents, based on the identification of commercial opportunities in technology transfer (TT). Patent applications from the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP) and the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos (UAEM) were used for the study. The methodology consisted of the analysis of 269 patent applications in a period of 10 years 2009-2018, in accordance with the statistical International Patent Classification (IPC), through 4 steps: (a) construction of the patent database, with the use of the patent tool of the Mexican Institute of Intellectual Property, (b) identification of inventive capabilities, through the World Intellectual Property Organization, (c) distribution by industries of intensity and technological market opportunity, with the tool of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and (d) analysis of market behavior, through the study of the 36 applications of the pharmaceutical patent area, from both universities. The results showed that 68.4 % of BUAP and 75.6 % of UAEM reflected a predominantly competitive positioning in high technology and medium-high technology industries. The advantage of the proposed tool is that it allows the recognition of the technological market opportunity based on the construction of scenarios related to the IPC behavior.

Approaches for development of LAG-3 inhibitors and the promise they hold as anticancer agents.

INTRODUCTION: LAG-3 is considered to be the third point of immunological control in relation to clinical trials that address cancer treatment, only behind PD-1 and CTLA-4, due to its role as a suppressor of the immune response and enhancer of differentiation of Treg cells. AREAS COVERED: The authors focus on emphasizing the strategy of development of LAG-3 inhibitors to develop anticancer therapeutics, especially from the perspective of designing new monoclonal and bispecific antibodies against LAG-3. This article also covers details of patents and clinical trials of LAG-3 inhibitors reported in the literature. In addition, we highlight as future research challenges the design and development of peptides and small molecules as inhibitors of LAG-3 function. EXPERT OPINION: Three approaches have been used for the development of LAG-3 inhibitors, and they include inhibitory LAG-3 binding peptides and antagonist monoclonal and multispecific antibodies. These approaches include more than 100 clinical trials of 21 molecules that bind to LAG-3 and block its binding to MHC II. However, these approaches do not cover the design and development of peptides and small molecules that could inhibit the function of LAG-3, for which it is necessary to develop new alternatives that cover this gap.

Treatment of solid tumors using bispecific anti-PDL-1/ICOS antibody.

PD-L1 and ICOS are immune control points in cancer and their presence in cancer tends to have a poor prognosis. WO2019122882 patent describes a bispecific antibody that targets PDL-1/ICOS with the potential application of cancer treatment. WO2019122882 patent describes a bispecific antibody with antitumor efficacy in CT26 model through of the depletion of TReg cells and improved ratio of CD8+ T cells: TReg in tumor microenvironment. The anti-PDL-1/ICOS antibody is new; however, only preclinical assays are shown using colon carcinoma model. So far, there are no reports of clinical trials to evaluate the safety, toxicity and efficacy, but it will be of great interest to analyze in the future if this antibody surpasses the action of the combinatorial therapy in cancer.