A nice development on the patent front today: the infamous "Dr V PLUS application" (14/395581) was officially assigned to Anavex on April 21st, but just published today. This application was always "contractually owned" by Anavex, but now Anavex is the unequivocal owner, contract or no contract. The benefit for Dr. Vamvakides in previously not assigning the application was with regard to maintaining ownership should the contract be terminated. This change can be read into a few different ways:
1) Speculative but likely (neutral) - Dr. Vamvakides is no longer in a position to continue perusing this application for whatever reason. Some have already made similar speculations that would agree with this ...
2) Speculative and possible (bullish) - Anavex is dotting their i's and crossing their t's to set the stage for a future deal. I know a lot of people think that a deal is immanent on the basis of clinical data alone, but the reality is a deal won't happen until there is a clear understanding of the company's IP. Anyone can make a drug, but there can only be one patent holder. At minimum, there would need to be: a) either an allowance or abandonment of the PLUS applications (a definitive end), and b) unequivocal ownership of the applications (a partner would not want to risk loosing ownership of a patent over a contractual misstep). Anavex now has 'b' covered and time will bring clarity regarding 'a'.
3) Speculative and unlikely (neutral) - Dr. Vamvakides has thrown in the towel on the PLUS application due to either: a) early USPTO opinions on the obviousness of combining A2-73 with donepezil, or b) early clinical data showing no statistical difference between A2-73 + donepezil and A2-73 alone. First off, it is still far to early for either 'a' or 'b' to result in "giving up". Secondly, assigning the application does not really change Dr. V's interest in Anavex PLUS, so if he has thrown in the towel, then assigning the application would be useless (assigning and not assigning has the same outcome).
Overall, this is nice to see.
