3 ms·
> If they prove, say, that vitamin C stops Alzheimer's then they can patent it for that usage. Here is an article discussing this approach: http://stm.science
by busyant 8y ago
> If they prove, say, that vitamin C stops Alzheimer's then they can patent it for that usage.
Here is an article discussing this approach:
http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/6/248/248fs30 http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/6/248/248fs30
I call them "use patents" but I am not sure if that is an official term or just a colloquialism.
- radicalbyte 8y agoI just asked my wife (who's a pharmacist). She says that it's indeed true that drugs companies basically ignore existing drugs because it's not worth the costs to prove that they work even though they can officially patent them for new usages. Here's an example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregabalin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregabalin That's an epilepsy treatment which also worked for nerve damage. They weren't allowed to dispense the generic for nerve problems. However in practise the prescriptions don't include the reason so in practise they provided the generic.