Teva gets patent for invention related to multiple sclerosis drug

The company claims that the pharmaceutical composition in the product, related to multiple sclerosis drug Laquinimod, provides a superior stabilisation effect

Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals has received a patent approval for its invention related to multiple sclerosis drug Laquinimod. According to reports, Laquinimod is developed by Teva Pharma in collaboration with Active Biotech AB, a Swedish biotechnology company which has focus on neurodegenerative/inflammatory diseases and cancer.

According to Active Biotech, laquinimod is a compound under development for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and Huntington’s disease and the company has an agreement with Teva covering the development and commercialisation of the drug.

The patent application, titled Stable Laquinimod Preparations, is for a pharmaceutical composition comprising laquinimod or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt of it and meglumine and a pharmacuetically acceptable carrier. The company claims that it has unexpectedly found that this pharmaceutical composition provides a superior stabilisation effect. It has also amended some of the claims to include the ratio range of the ingredients used in the composition, in order to address the objections raised by the examiner of Patent Office.

The objections of patent office include that the claims were mere new forms of the known compound and do not differ significantly in properties with regard to efficacy, thus falling within the scope of section 3(d) of the Patent Act 1970 as amended in 2005. Following submissions by the company addressing these objections, along with the amended set of claims the Assistant Controller of Patents and Design said that the Controller is satisfied that the application comply with the requirements of the Act as per the objections raised with respect to the hearing notice, and issued an order to proceed with the application for grant as per the amended set of claims containing 30 claims. The subject invention provides a pharmaceutical composition for use in the treatment of, or alleviation of symptoms of, a form of multiple sclerosis, claims the company.

According to Teva, multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease that impacts the central nervous system. It triggers an immune response by the body during when myelin, the substance insulating the nerve cells including the brand and the spinal cord, in a body is damaged. This would affect the ability of various parts of the nervous system to communicate, which in turn results in physical, mental, and sometimes psychiatric problems.