7 ms·
Computer program that could bypass patents to produce synthetic drugs
- zhamisen 8y agoLink to the paper: https://www.cell.com/chem/fulltext/S2451-9294(18)30567-9 https://www.cell.com/chem/fulltext/S2451-9294(18)30567-9
- 234dfgdgdf 8y agoIt could bypass patents, but instead it is owned by Merck, Giant Pharma so they can now bypass all the patents for themselves
- refurb 8y agoExactly! I’m sure the first customers of this software will be the big pharma patent departments who will use it to further expand their patent space.
- jordigh 8y ago> In the global industry, some of the best kept secrets are those necessary to make life-saving medication and other pharmaceutical products. What? Patents are not secret. Patents are the opposite of secret. The very word "patent" means "open". Are drug patents some kind of trick to do the opposite of what a patent is supposed to do? > However, when the researchers designated some atoms and bond as untouchable, the program proposed plans that avoided the patented ones. Can someone explain just exactly how do drug patents work? Can this legally work? I understand that normally patents cover processes or working inventions. I didn't think that the precise chemical bonds were required to be produced in the final output of a patent. Also, since apparently the researchers have read the patents in question and designed their software to produce drugs that avoid those patents, have they willfully infringed? Since they were aware of the patent and the process by which the drug worked, so using this knowledge they produced similar drugs that do the same thing? I assume that the researchers know drug patent law well enough and are confident that their method avoids patents, so there's obviously a lot I don't understand.
- sigstoat 8y ago> I understand that normally patents cover processes... > since apparently the researchers have read the patents in question and designed their software to produce drugs that avoid those patents, have they willfully infringed? the patents cover process, not the resultant molecule. the program finds a different process to make the same thing.
- sp527 8y agoYea it’s important to note these guys are risking breaking the industry. If for some reason pharma companies were unable to at least recoup the cost of their (expensive) R&D efforts, it would disincentive new drug development.
- drieddust 8y agoBook Bad Pharma thoroughly debunks this idea. These companies spend more time and money in lobbying, marketing, and rehashing the old research.
- anovikov 8y agoThis is how is it in every industry. Almost every startup spends more money on boosting traffic and sales than on coding the product itself, too.
- aaronbrethorst 8y agoThere are some differences between a company charging $270,000/year for a medication you need to survive [1] and a company trying to sell you on 'Uber for dry cleaning,' or whatever. [1] https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/orphan-drugs/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/orphan-drugs/
- anovikov 8y agoBut wait, these drugs won't even exist if they didn't charge as much. They are needed by very few people (so if the price was $1000 they won't boost the number of patients so much, as the diseases are very rare), and drug research and regulatory process of approval is very expensive.
- User23 8y agoMore on this: https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2019/01/18/automated-route-finding-and-patent-busting https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2019/01/18/au...
- bentona 8y agoI love it when sci fi and sci fact seem to merge https://www.npr.org/2017/09/20/548664924/in-a-future-ruled-by-big-pharma-a-robot-tentatively-explores-freedom-and-sex-aut https://www.npr.org/2017/09/20/548664924/in-a-future-ruled-b...
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- fernly 8y agoBut isn't a modified molecule a reformulation, which cannot be assumed to have the same effect, or dose-response, or even safety, as the original molecule? Say if you can synthesize something _like_ garblezolib or whatever, aren't you then faced with all the safety and effectiveness trials that were so expensive for the OEMs?
- jamiek88 8y agoThe end molecule is not patented, the process and pathway to creating it is. If this software can come up with sufficiently novel pathways other processes can be used to come up with the same drug. This is the idea anyway.
- monochromatic 8y agoSome commentary from my favorite chem-blogger: https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2019/01/18/automated-route-finding-and-patent-busting https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2019/01/18/au... Sounds like this is for finding different synthetic routes to the same molecule. So it might help avoid method claims, but not claims for the product itself.
- sachindhar 8y agoLots of misinformation in these comments. Both the process and end product are patentable, but some companies do not disclose their processes and opt to keep them as trade secrets. As for the article, changing the molecule can have unpredictable effects on how the compound acts in the body. Even changing one bond/atom can result in dramatically different properties. The article doesn't address that.
- philipkglass 8y agoThe Cell article and the In the Pipeline post explain more clearly: this system plans synthesis of the same final molecule by different pathways. The only patents it can detour around are process patents. Since the final product is the same, its properties also remain the same.
- sbierwagen 8y agoMore relevantly, this scheme doesn't address the prescription side at all. Doctor: I judge you to have [medical condition]. Here is a prescription for [expensive on-patent drug]. Patient: I would prefer to take this less expensive drug, which a computer program thinks might be equivalent. Doctor: Hmm. Doesn't look like there are any clinical studies for this analogue drug. Since I don't want to risk a malpractice lawsuit, I'm not going to prescribe it. Without a prescription, your insurance won't pay for the analogue drug either, so it'll have to be cheaper than your copay in order for it to make sense for you.
- riahi 8y agoThe conversation goes more like this: DOCTOR: You have [medical condition]. We can manage it with [medication which is on the appropriate tiered formulary for the patient’s pharmacy benefits manager]. PATIENT: I would prefer to take this medication they advertised to me during the last football game. DOCTOR: This medication is only a slight incremental improvement over the generic one approved by your insurance. If you want the newer one, it may have higher copays and will have more paperwork hassle as we try to get the insurance to cover it. In the end, it may not be covered. Do you still want it? PATIENT: Yes. [Leaves angry Yelp review over how the physician wouldn’t prescribe them X medication]. END SCENE As for the final point, if there are no clinical studies (at all) for a given drug, then it is not FDA approved and would be illegal to prescribe unless under the auspices of a registered clinical trial with a filed IND with the FDA. If it is FDA approved but not for that specific indication, then it depends on the clinical practice patterns at large whether this is a reasonable course of action vs malpractice. Case in point: Avastin is way cheaper than Lucentis for macular degeneration and works via similar mechanism, but was never tested or approved for that indication. Many Retinologists will inject Avastin anyway because some trials have shown benefit for cost conscious patients or patients from whom insurance will not cover Lucentis. This is not malpractice. Using another drug from another class entirely without any clinical evidence to back up its use outside of a trial could be considered malpractice, but only provable if there is a bad outcome. Without a prescription, they aren’t getting the drug legally. With a prescription without insurance/PBM approval, then yes, it could be very expensive for unconventional treatments.
- laughingman2 8y agoInformation wants to be free.
- leoh 8y agoThis article is not complete. In order for a drug to be approved by the FDA for a particular condition, it must demonstrate (through expensive clinical trials) superior efficacy to existing treatments unless the drug is considered a generic. It's hard to say if a drug with slight molecular modifications could be said to be a "generic" form of another. There's a good chance the answer would be no, because slight molecular modifications can cause significant differences in efficacy.