A Patent Review on the Use of Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complexes to Enhance Physicochemical and Pharmacological Properties in Antidepressant Drugs.

Major depressive disorder is considered one of the most common and prevalent diseases worldwide, affecting children, adults, and the elderly. Currently, several antidepressant drugs are available on the market, but the low adherence of patients due to the slow therapeutic response is a problem to be solved. In this way, cyclodextrins become an alternative to circumvent the limitations and improve the physicochemical and pharmacological properties of this class of drugs. Thus, the objective of this work is to carry out a current review of patents associating antidepressant drugs and cyclodextrins. The patent search was performed in two patent databases, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the European Patent Office using terms in the title and abstract fields and the international patent classification code for antidepressant drugs. In the end, 27 patent documents were selected and divided into three classifications, physical-chemical characterization study, pre-clinical in vivo trials, and clinical trials. The scientific evidence found in the patents considers the use of cyclodextrins as an important alternative to improve the therapeutic and physicochemical properties of antidepressant drugs, among the main improved properties are, solubility, stability, masking taste and odor, bioavailability.

Devices for osteoarthritis symptoms treatment: a patent review.

INTRODUCTION: Osteoarthritis is a musculoskeletal disease that can lead to the loss and inability of those affected to perform normal daily functions, which leads to a decrease in quality of life. The main symptoms of osteoarthritis are tenderness, joint pain, stiffness, crepitus, limited movement, and local inflammation. AREAS COVERED: The selected patents were deposited from 2010 to April 2022 involving 57 documents that were in line with the study objective in the final selection. The patents were classified in years, country, and applicants. Also, the therapeutic fields that presented the most documents were electrical stimulation, phototherapy, and ultrasound, followed by magnetic, electromagnetic, and thermotherapy. Therefore, the most current therapies used in the documents are already on the market. EXPERT OPINION: Although the OA is cureless, non-surgical treatments are classified as the primary management approach for this disease. The pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies are employed to reduce its prevalence and ensure the effectiveness of treatments. A strategy for relieving OA symptoms is non-pharmacological treatment, which can be based on exercise and patient education, combined with other alternative therapies. These therapies are used as supplements to the main OA treatments, enhancing the effectiveness of treatment outcomes.

A Descriptive Review of Cannabis sativa Patents for Cancer Treatment.

BACKGROUND: Cannabis use for tumor treatment has been explored in several areas, and its potential for tumor remission is currently being studied after the discovery of the endogenous cannabinoid. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to conduct a critical patent review to identify and explore the latest advances and therapeutic strategies using Cannabis to treat cancer. METHODS: The research was carried out in the free and online database Espacenet, using the descriptors "cancer" and "Cannabis or cannabidiol" in the title or abstract. A total of 95 patents were identified for preliminary evaluation in the database. Six duplicate patents were excluded, 12 referring to traditional Chinese medicine and 36 with a title in disagreement with the scope of this review. In addition the final selection involved 21 patents that were in line with the objective of the study. RESULTS: As observed in the reading of patents, the interest of pharmaceutical industries and researchers and the development of new products to fight cancer have increased in recent years. The main cannabinoids present in the patents are tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol, and hemp. Moreover, the patents were classified and the main applicant countries were the United States followed by Japan, with a higher filing rate in 2019 and, mainly by the industry. CONCLUSION: In conclusion we can say that, the importance of parliamentary approval in the cultivation and investments that, in addition to bringing innovation to the industrial sector, enriches research in the area, contributing to the creation of new medicines.

The management of osteoarthritis symptomatology through nanotechnology: a patent review.

Osteoarthritis is considered a degenerative joint disease that is characterised by inflammation, chronic pain, and functional limitation. The increasing development of nanotechnology in drug delivery systems has provided new ideas and methods for osteoarthritis therapy. This review aimed to evaluate patents that have developed innovations, therapeutic strategies, and alternatives using nanotechnology in osteoarthritis treatment. The results show patents deposited from 2015 to November 2021 in the online databases European Patent Office and World Intellectual Property Organisation. A total of 651 patents were identified for preliminary assessment and 16 were selected for full reading and discussion. The evaluated patents are focused on the intraarticular route, oral route, and topical route for osteoarthritis treatment. The intraarticular route presented a higher patent number, followed by the oral and topical routes, respectively. The development of new technologies allows us to envision a promising and positive future in osteoarthritis treatment.

Antibacterial drugs and cyclodextrin inclusion complexes: a patent review.

INTRODUCTION: Bacterial antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria mutate and escape the effect of antibiotics, which makes the antibiotics no longer effective in treating infections. New solutions for bacterial infections are a persistent need including the identification of drugs with better pharmacological profiles, more potent, and safer. Cyclodextrins inclusion complexes have been able to improve the physicochemical and pharmacological properties of the formulation molecules, resulting in new alternatives with better efficacy. AREAS COVERED: The patents analyzed in the review used treatments based on antibiotics already on the market, natural products, and synthesized molecules composed of the formulation with cyclodextrins. The combination between cyclodextrin and nanostructures also were presented in the patents review process. Moreover, inclusion complexes have been an alternative in developing treatment mainly in China by the pharmaceutical industries in several countries such as Germany, Hungary, the United States of America, Japan and China. EXPERT OPINION: This review is broad and complete since it considers the first patent involving cyclodextrins and antibacterial drugs. Therefore, the various inclusion complexes and antibacterial drugs alternatives presented in this review offer therapeutic options to fight bacterial infections. If shown to be effective, these drugs may be extremely important in the current clinical practice.

Mapping of New Pharmacological Alternatives in the Face of the Emergence of Antibiotic Resistance in COVID-19 Patents Treated for Opportunistic Respiratory Bacterial Pathogens.

BACKGROUND: The increase in bacterial resistance against antibiotics is thought to be another type of pandemic after COVID-19. Emergency treatment based on antibiotics is a major influence in increasing this resistance. Bacteria, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, are the most affected by the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, since they are resistant to most antibiotics currently available on the market. OBJECTIVE: This review aimed to evaluate patents of new drugs and formulations, for the treatment of infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae. METHODS: The present patent review was carried out through a specialized search database Espacenet. The selection was based on the criteria of patents published from 2010 to May 2021, in any language, and containing the keywords in title or abstract. Also, a research was performed on the PubMed database, using the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Twenty-two patents were selected for the analysis according to the aim of the study. The advance of new patents has been mostly observed in the World Intellectual Property Organization, China, and United States. The results showed that the main approach was the drug association, followed by drug carriers, new isolated products, and vaccines. CONCLUSION: It has been observed that few studies use new drug alternatives for the treatment, probably due to the higher cost of the development and lack of investments. The effectiveness and safety of these therapies depend on the acceptance, the correct prescription, and rational use of medicines. Therefore, this review can further develop new treatments as alternatives against Klebsiella pneumoniae and pneumonia caused by it.

What's New in Allergen Immunotherapy Patents? A Review.

In recent years, allergies are on the rise. The growth of allergies cases has changed the immune system's response to new pathogens. The therapy used to treat these diseases is based on allergen avoidance, pharmacotherapy and allergen-specific immunotherapy. The last one has received a lot of interest in the research field, due to the possibility of leading the patient to a cure. In this sense, new allergen immunotherapy need to be developed or improved to increase safety and efficiency. This review aims to evaluate patents published, from 2015 to July 2020, that have developed allergic immunotherapy treatment and administration routes, as well as new alternatives of vehicles, carriers and delivery systems in this context. The advance of new patents has been mostly seen in China and United States. The oral route is the most used in the development of new allergy treatments. However, due to the challenges that still exist in allergy therapy, association with other pathways is interesting to amplify the possibilities and alternatives of treatment. Thus, other routes of administration for allergen-specific immunotherapy such as topical, sublingual and intranasal have been explored in the research and industrial fields. Nevertheless, it has been observed that few studies are using these alternative administration routes, probably due to the higher cost and lack of investments. The delivery systems are also other tools that can be more explored in the allergen immunotherapy formulations. The effectiveness, safety and acceptance of this therapy depends on the development of new formulations and routes of administration.

Pharmaceuticals agents for preventing NSAID-induced gastric ulcers: a patent review.

INTRODUCTION: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a class of drugs widely used due to their pharmacological potential, demonstrating anti-inflammatory, analgesic, or antipyretic activity. However, prolonged use of these medications can lead to the development of gastric ulcers in patients. This review aimed to find patents for drugs with an anti-inflammatory and gastroprotective character to treat NSAID-induced gastric ulcers. AREAS COVERED: For the treatment of NSAID-induced gastric ulcers, formulations with different action mechanisms were found, including donors of nitric oxide, heterocyclic compounds, and natural products. EXPERT OPINION: Many of the structures found have already been used in clinic settings and others, and according to the results found, they are promising for the treatment of gastric ulcers.

Mapping the technological landscape of SARS, MERS, and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.

PURPOSE: The last two decades have seen the emergence of several viral outbreaks. Some of them are the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV2) - the cause of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Ever, vaccines for emergency use have been authorized for the control and prevention of COVID-19. Currently, there is an urgent need to develop a vaccine for prophylaxis of COVID-19 and for other future epidemics. METHODS: This review describes patented vaccines for SARS and MERS-CoV and vaccines developed and approved for emergency use against the new coronavirus (COVID-19). The European Patent Office and the World Intellectual Property Organization were the patent databases used using specific terms. In addition, another search was carried out in the Clinical Trials in search of ongoing clinical studies focused on the COVID-19 vaccine. RESULTS: The patent search showed that most vaccines are based on viral vector platforms, nucleic acids, or protein subunits. The review also includes an overview of completed and ongoing clinical trials for SARS-CoV-2 in several countries. CONCLUSION: The information provided here lists vaccines for other types of coronavirus that have been used in the development of vaccines for COVID-19.

Technological Scenario for Masks in Patent Database During Covid-19 Pandemic.

Since January 2020, the World Health Organization announces COVID-19 outbreak a case of public health emergency of international interest, and declaring it a pandemic on March. Due to the high transmission of this disease, rate precautions have been implemented, such as the use of masks by the population, personal protective equipment (PPE), and safety protocols, mainly to health workers. Thus, we performed a patent review to evaluate the current patents related to the protective mask. The review was carried out in the patent database in the period of May 2019 to May 2020. After the process of screening and eligibility, 563 patents were selected for our analysis according to the aim of the study which used masks such as a PPE against dust particles and pathogens, mostly when it is about airborne transmission, such as viruses and bacteria. Here, an overview of the main materials used in the mask manufacturing and their efficiency was described. The results of the review showed that most of the masks used cotton, nylon, silver fiber fabrics, among others as fabrics to develop the masks. It also makes an analysis of masks composed of nanotechnology which provide high filtration efficiency. Moreover, the review also brought possibilities of masking the population, which already have been done in countries such as China and Korea and ways of sterilization for reuse of PPE during COVID-19 outbreak. Thus, this review can further researchers in the developing of masks to decrease the spread of a pandemic disease. Graphical abstract.

Trends in MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Diagnosis Strategies: A Patent Review.

The emergence of a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak represents a challenge for the diagnostic laboratories responsible for developing test kits to identify those infected with SARS-CoV-2. Methods with rapid and accurate detection are essential to control the sources of infection, to prevent the spread of the disease and to assist decision-making by public health managers. Currently, there is a wide variety of tests available with different detection methodologies, levels of specificity and sensitivity, detection time, and with an extensive range of prices. This review therefore aimed to conduct a patent search in relation to tests for the detection of SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2. The greatest number of patents identified in the search were registered between 2003 and 2011, being mainly deposited by China, the Republic of Korea, and the United States. Most of the patents used the existing RT-PCR, ELISA, and isothermal amplification methods to develop simple, sensitive, precise, easy to use, low-cost tests that reduced false-negative or false-positive results. The findings of this patent search show that an increasing number of materials and diagnostic tests for the coronavirus are being produced to identify infected individuals and combat the growth of the current pandemic; however, there is still a question in relation to the reliability of the results of these tests.

SARS, MERS and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) treatment: a patent review.

INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus has been responsible for several virus outbreaks since 2003, caused by SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV, and currently SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), the causative agent of coronavirus disease in 2019. COVID-19 has become a global public health emergency because of its high virulence and mortality capacity. This patent review aims to provide an overview of the patents that present possible treatments for SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV. AREAS COVERED: To treat SARS, MERS and SARS-CoV-2, researchers have filed patents for a number of therapeutic agents. Most of the treatments found were protease inhibitors aimed at proteases such as PLpro, 3 CLpro, RNA helicase, and Spike protein, or used monoclonal antibodies and interferons. In addition, the use of Chinese folk medicine and its multitude of medicinal plants with strong antiviral properties was reinforced. Thus, these therapies used in previous epidemics can serve as an aid in the new pandemic by SARS-CoV-2 and be a starting point for new treatments. EXPERT OPINION: The various antiviral alternatives presented in this review offer therapeutic options to fight coronavirus infections. If shown to be effective, these drugs may be extremely important in the current pandemic.

Microneedles as an alternative technology for transdermal drug delivery systems: a patent review.

Introduction: The most conventional drug delivery systems exist with limitations such as drug degradation, toxicity and low bioavailability. Also, hypodermic injections can cause pain, compromising patient compliance. Due to this, transdermal drug delivery systems can minimize several problems associated with conventional drug delivery. The development of microneedle arrays is an approach which allows drug delivery through the skin by improving safety, efficacy, and bioavailability. Hence, several studies have been searching for new ways of treatment using microneedle devices for transdermal drug delivery.Areas covered: All patents were analyzed from European Patent Office and World Intellectual Property Organization databases that reported microneedle arrays using the combined keywords 'microneedle' or 'microneedles' and 'drug delivery systems'. A total of 233 patents were analyzed, out of which 47 selected were microneedle devices for clinical applications.Expert opinion: In past years, there has been a crescent of advances in the development of microneedles as a drug delivery system by researchers and pharmaceutical companies. The authors observed patents related to manufacture of dissolving, hydrogel-forming, solid, hollow, and coated microneedles for ocular and transdermal drug delivery. Finally, the authors noticed patents about new microneedle technologies with potential therapeutic application in several clinical conditions confirmed in clinical tests.