On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 6:55 PM, Udhay Shankar N <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > Pharmaceutical companies are not investing in this research because DCA > method cannot be patented, This is not true. What they would file for is "a new indication" patent, which means that the drug is now being use for a new disease, and where the science behind the 'new use' was not obvious from the 'old use'. There could also be new formulation patents specific to the 'new use'. There are several companies that are using this strategy. One key advantages (apart from the obvious new product benefit) is that of a lowered risk during clinical trials, because the side effect profile of the drug is known, as its been used earlier. One example of the 'new indication' strategy is that of Thalidomide, that is now in clinical trials for treating multiple myeloma ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide). Adit.
