Anavex Life Sciences Corp (AVXL)

[XenaLives]

I posted this several times - patent expiration is something that BP deals with all the time. There are multiple strategies.

3. New Uses for the Drug

A drug can earn three years extension under the three year new use/new clinical exclusivity FDA rule. The name of the game here is not to re-work the medication or re-formulate it, but merely to find a new use for it.

A 2006 article in Biopharm International notes how well this worked for pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly. Lilly patented atomexitine in the early 1980s to treat depression. But further research indicated that the compound could treat attention deficient hyperactivity disorder. So Lilly received new patent protection for atomexetine as an ADHD drug, which it marketed as Strattera. This held patent protection until the end of 2010, long after doctors had stopped using amotexitine as an antidepressant.

Source: How Long Is A Drug Patent Good For? - Drugsdb.com http://www.drugsdb.com/blog/how-long-is-a-drug-patent-good-for.html#ixzz4TsEmHrHy