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BTW, the enantiomer thing is a common trick used by the pharma industry to double the life of a patent. They first release the racemic mix, then the purified, a
by pygy_ 9y ago
BTW, the enantiomer thing is a common trick used by the pharma industry to double the life of a patent. They first release the racemic mix, then the purified, active enantiomer once the original patent expires.
The racemic mix usually has a slightly higher level of side effects.
- dmurray 9y agoI have heard this before and believe it, but I don't understand why it's not vulnerable to a competitor (perhaps a manufacturer specialising in generic drugs) releasing the version with only the active enantiomer. After all, it's not protected by patent.
- pygy_ 9y agoThat's a very good point and I don't know either. Possibly: the process to manufacture the molecules is also patented, and you must make the racemic mix to extract the active enantiomer. Not sure though.