Patents, Proprietary Technology and Data Exclusivi
Post# of 148126
Protection of the Company’s intellectual property rights is important to our business. We may file patent applications in the U.S., Canada, China, and Japan, European countries that are party to the European Patent Convention and other countries on a selective basis in order to protect inventions we consider to be important to the development of our business.
Generally, patents issued in the U.S. are effective for either (i) 20 years from the earliest asserted filing date, if the application was filed on or after June 8, 1995, or (ii) the longer of 17 years from the date of issue or 20
years from the earliest asserted filing date, if the application was filed prior to that date. A U.S. patent, to be selected by us upon receipt of FDA regulatory approval, may be subject to up to a five-year patent term extension in certain instances. While the duration of foreign patents varies in accordance with the provisions of applicable local law, most countries provide for a patent term of 20 years measured from the application filing date and some may also allow for patent term extension to compensate for regulatory approval delay. We pursue opportunities for seeking new meaningful patent protection on an ongoing basis. We currently anticipate, absent patent term extension, patent protection relating to the leronlimab (PRO 140) antibody itself will start to expire in 2023, certain methods of using leronlimab (PRO 140) for treatment of HIV-1 will start to expire in 2026, certain formulations comprising leronlimab (PRO 140) will start to expire in 2031, and certain methods of using small-molecule CCR5 antagonists for treatment of cancer metastasis will start to expire in 2032.
Patents do not enable us to preclude competitors from commercializing drugs in direct competition with our products that are not covered by granted and enforceable patent claims. Consequently, patents may not provide us with any meaningful competitive advantage. See related risk factors under the heading “Risk Factors” below. We may also rely on data exclusivity, trade secrets and proprietary know-how to develop and attempt to achieve a competitive position with our product candidates. We require our employees, consultants and partners who have access to our proprietary information to sign confidentiality agreements in an effort to protect our intellectual property.
Separate from and in addition to the patent rights noted above, we expect that leronlimab (PRO 140) will be subject to at least a 12-year data exclusivity period measured from the first date of FDA licensure, during which period no other applications referencing leronlimab (PRO 140) will be approved by FDA. Further, no other applications referencing leronlimab (PRO 140) will be accepted by FDA for a 4-year period measured from the first date of FDA licensure. Accordingly, this period of data exclusivity is expected to provide at least a 12-year term of protection against competing products shown to be biosimilar or interchangeable with leronlimab (PRO 140). Similar data exclusivity or data protection periods of up to about five years or more are provided in at least Australia, Canada, Europe, Japan, and New Zealand.
We note that data exclusivity is not an extension of patent rights, and it does not prevent the introduction of generic versions of the innovative drug during the data exclusivity period, as long as the marketing approval of the generic version does not use or rely upon the innovator’s test data. Patents and data exclusivity are different concepts, protect different subject matter, arise from different efforts, and have different legal effects over different time periods.
Information with respect to our current patent portfolio as of June 30, 2020, is set forth below.
SECTION 12 FOR PATENT RIGHTS
https://www.cytodyn.com/investors/sec-filings...15d10k.htm