According to the patent, a specific crystalline form of the drug known as polymorph C may be more effective than other versions because it is absorbed more efficiently by the body. The patent also notes that laboratory studies showed the drug reduced tumor growth and helped mice with brain tumors live longer, prompting early clinical trials to test whether the treatment is safe and effective in humans.
The technology at issue is a subcutaneous cosmetic penile implant, a silicone sleeve placed between the skin and 'Buck's fascia' to enhance girth and length.
Now, researchers have created an artificial-intelligence system that vastly simplifies and accelerates the process of chemical synthesis. The system, which is called MOSAIC and is described in a study published in Nature on 19 January, recommended conditions that researchers were able to use to generate 35 compounds with the potential to become products like pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals or cosmetics without needing to do any further trawling or tweaking.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reportedly mulling whether more prescription drugs should be sold over the counter (OTC) at pharmacies. In an interview on Wednesday, FDA commissioner Martin Makary told CNBC that everything should be over the counter except drugs that are deemed unsafe or addictive or that require clinical monitoring. Makary said the agency is reviewing how it decides which drugs can be sold with or without a prescription from a health care practitioner.
For years, Congress has signaled that it wants to crack down on Pharmacy Benefit Managers, the middle men that have come under fire for their vertical integration with insurers and their role in spiking drug costs. This week, it finally happened via the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026, promptingemployer groups including the Purchaser Business Group on Health (PBGH) and the ERISA Industry Committee to cheer its passage.
Congress set the patent term at twenty years from the earliest effective filing date. 35 U.S.C. § 154(a)(2) (not counting provisional or foreign national filing). But that statutory baseline is just the starting point. But, the actual term is shaped by a series of prosecution decisions, USPTO delays, terminal disclaimers, and patent family structure.
We provide thought partnership. When a company is developing a drug, there's a lot of work involved, such as understanding the science, designing a study and generating good data. We come in and explain what the standard of care looks like today for their patient population, and what we think it will look like in five to eight years or whenever they plan to launch their therapy.
The Food and Drug Administration commissioner's effort to drastically shorten the review of drugs favored by President Donald Trump's administration is causing alarm across the agency, stoking worries that the plan may run afoul of legal, ethical, and scientific standards long used to vet the safety and effectiveness of new medicines. Marty Makary's program is causing new anxiety and confusion among staff already rocked by layoffs, buyouts, and leadership upheavals, according to seven current or recently departed staffers.
EMPAVELI is the first and only approved treatment for C3G and IC-MPGN across pediatric patients 12+, adults, and post-transplant recurrence. That's roughly 5,000 patients in the U.S., with EMPAVELI holding exclusive approval for about two-thirds. Add the European CHMP positive opinion in December 2025, and you have a rare disease franchise with global expansion potential and pricing power that typically commands gross margins north of 90%.
The settlement resolves all U.S. and international patent litigation concerning the unauthorized use of Genevant's and Arbutus' lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery technology in Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines. The agreement came just days before a highly anticipated jury trial was scheduled to begin in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
The CAFC affirmed as to anticipation but reversed as to obviousness, holding that the Board relied on the wrong legal standard in finding no motivation to combine. The court emphasized that KSR v. Teleflex explicitly eschews such a rigid approach to obviousness, indicating the PTAB failed to properly apply flexible, common-sense reasoning when evaluating whether combining prior art references would have been obvious to one skilled in the art.
This week in Other Barks & Bites, IPWatchdog's IP news roundup: the House of Representatives passes drug patent legislation, while antitrust legislation targeting patent-related activities is introduced into the Senate and the Trump administration mandates pricing information for pharmaceutical ads; the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issues a pair of precedential decisions on cases with multiple petitions; the USPTO issues marijuana-related trademark guidelines and a notice on modifying patent term adjustment practices;
In a recent Tradespace and Above the Law survey, two-thirds of companies that draft patents in-house described IP as a value driver, while 71 percent of companies that outsource drafting viewed IP as a cost. When drafting and prosecution move inside, IP teams work closer to engineers and product leaders. This proximity improves invention quality, strengthens claim strategy, and aligns patent decisions with product direction, market timing, and business priorities.