2 ms·
So I'm not super familiar with drug patent laws - can those synthetic version and naturally occurring version be identical (as in chemically) or does the natura
by alexholehouse 13y ago
So I'm not super familiar with drug patent laws - can those synthetic version and naturally occurring version be identical (as in chemically) or does the natural one need to be subtly different (e.g. extra methyl group, or whatever)?
- chm 13y agoI'm not sure if this answers your question: If an algae produces molecule A, one can determine its structure and (in theory) synthesize it in a lab. Both will be structurally identical. Of course, if the chemist wants to add X or Y moieties to the original algal molecule, he can. One could also determine the source of a certain molecule (bio vs. lab) by looking at the different isotopes in each molecule. (In theory because some syntheses are practically extremely difficult.)
- dnautics 13y agodepends on the patent. Usually a drug patent will claim "molecule scaffold with substitutents X can be {list of substituents}, Y can be {list of substitutents}". Then they will claim a very broad list substituents. It may not always be enforceable, if you can claim that your derivative substituent is "non-obvious" but most people won't bother because the litgation will be a PITA.