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Bacigalupo ML, Pignataro MF, Scopel CT, Kondratyuk S, Mellouk O, Chaves GC. Unveiling patenting strategies of therapeutics and vaccines: evergreening in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. Front Med (Lausanne) 2023; 10:1287542. [PMID: 38126073 PMCID: PMC10731306 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1287542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
In the pharmaceutical sector, evergreening is considered a range of practices applied to extend monopoly protection on existing products. Filing several patent applications related to the same active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is one of the most common manifestations of evergreening. During the COVID-19 pandemic, several health technologies were developed. This study aimed to analyze the extension of evergreening for selected health technologies for SARS-CoV-2 through patent filing strategies. Starting with the selection of three antivirals, one biological and two vaccines, a patent landscape was built based on public and private databases. Regarding these selected technologies, we analyzed some of the evergreening strategies used by different applicants, academic institutions or pharmaceutical companies and found a total of 29 applications (10 after the pandemic) for antivirals, 3 applications for a biological drug (1 after the pandemic), and 41 applications for vaccines (23 after the pandemic). Despite differences among the technologies, a common aspect found in all analyzed cases is the intense patent filing after the pandemic, aligned to the fact that those technologies were moving through the R&D process up to regulatory approval. The evergreening approach pursued has already been found in other diseases, with the risk of monopoly extension and also bringing legal uncertainty due to the lack of transparency of newer patent applications covering specific medical indications. Therefore, efforts to address evergreening should be pursued by countries, including the adoption of a public health approach to the patent examination of those technologies to prevent the granting of undeserved patents.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Sergiy Kondratyuk
- International Treatment Preparedness Coalition Global (ITPC-Global), Bryanston, South Africa
| | - Othoman Mellouk
- International Treatment Preparedness Coalition Global (ITPC-Global), Bryanston, South Africa
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Vijay Gone N, Ghalib Enayathullah M, Thomas J, Rathee P, Prabhakar R, Kumar Bokara K, Sanjayan GJ. Discovery of SARS-CoV-2 Inhibitors Featuring Novel Histidine α-Nitrile Motif. Chem Biodivers 2023; 20:e202300957. [PMID: 37888938 DOI: 10.1002/cbdv.202300957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
As COVID-19 infection caused severe public health concerns recently, the development of novel antivirals has become the need of the hour. Main protease (Mpro ) has been an attractive target for antiviral drugs since it plays a vital role in polyprotein processing and virus maturation. Herein we report the discovery of a novel class of inhibitors against the SARS-CoV-2, bearing histidine α-nitrile motif embedded on a simple dipeptide framework. In-vitro and in-silico studies revealed that the histidine α-nitrile motif envisioned to target the Mpro contributes to the inhibitory activity. Among a series of dipeptides synthesized featuring this novel structural motif, some dipeptides displayed strong viral reduction (EC50 =0.48 μM) with a high selectivity index, SI>454.54. These compounds also exhibit strong binding energies in the range of -28.7 to -34.2 Kcal/mol. The simple dipeptide structural framework, amenable to quick structural variations, coupled with ease of synthesis from readily available commercial starting materials are the major attractive features of this novel class of SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors. The histidine α-nitrile dipeptides raise the hope of discovering potent drug candidates based on this motif to fight the dreaded SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nilu Vijay Gone
- Organic Chemistry Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pune, 411008, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India
| | - Mohammed Ghalib Enayathullah
- Annexe-II, Medical Biotechnology Complex, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad, Telangana, 500007, India
| | - Jessie Thomas
- Annexe-II, Medical Biotechnology Complex, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad, Telangana, 500007, India
| | - Parth Rathee
- Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA
| | - Rajeev Prabhakar
- Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA
| | - Kiran Kumar Bokara
- Annexe-II, Medical Biotechnology Complex, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad, Telangana, 500007, India
| | - Gangadhar J Sanjayan
- Organic Chemistry Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pune, 411008, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India
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Xu C, Liu R, Huang S, Li W, Li Z, Luo HB. 3D-SMGE: a pipeline for scaffold-based molecular generation and evaluation. Brief Bioinform 2023; 24:bbad327. [PMID: 37756591 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbad327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 08/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
In the process of drug discovery, one of the key problems is how to improve the biological activity and ADMET properties starting from a specific structure, which is also called structural optimization. Based on a starting scaffold, the use of deep generative model to generate molecules with desired drug-like properties will provide a powerful tool to accelerate the structural optimization process. However, the existing generative models remain challenging in extracting molecular features efficiently in 3D space to generate drug-like 3D molecules. Moreover, most of the existing ADMET prediction models made predictions of different properties through a single model, which can result in reduced prediction accuracy on some datasets. To effectively generate molecules from a specific scaffold and provide basis for the structural optimization, the 3D-SMGE (3-Dimensional Scaffold-based Molecular Generation and Evaluation) work consisting of molecular generation and prediction of ADMET properties is presented. For the molecular generation, we proposed 3D-SMG, a novel deep generative model for the end-to-end design of 3D molecules. In the 3D-SMG model, we designed the cross-aggregated continuous-filter convolution (ca-cfconv), which is used to achieve efficient and low-cost 3D spatial feature extraction while ensuring the invariance of atomic space rotation. 3D-SMG was proved to generate valid, unique and novel molecules with high drug-likeness. Besides, the proposed data-adaptive multi-model ADMET prediction method outperformed or maintained the best evaluation metrics on 24 out of 27 ADMET benchmark datasets. 3D-SMGE is anticipated to emerge as a powerful tool for hit-to-lead structural optimizations and accelerate the drug discovery process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Xu
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, Hainan, P.R. China
| | - Runduo Liu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510000, Guangdong, P.R. China
| | - Shuheng Huang
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, Hainan, P.R. China
| | - Wenchao Li
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510000, Guangdong, P.R. China
| | - Zhe Li
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510000, Guangdong, P.R. China
| | - Hai-Bin Luo
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, Hainan, P.R. China
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Dave B, Shah KC, Chorawala MR, Shah N, Patel P, Patel S, Shah P. Molnupiravir: an antiviral drug against COVID-19. Arch Virol 2023; 168:252. [PMID: 37710056 DOI: 10.1007/s00705-023-05881-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 05/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, has caused numerous deaths worldwide and poses significant challenges. Researchers have recently studied a new antiviral drug called molnupiravir for treating COVID-19. This review examines the causes and immunopathogenesis of COVID-19, as well as the role of molnupiravir in its treatment. Molnupiravir is a prodrug of β-D-N4-hydroxyctytidine (NHC) and has demonstrated activity against various viruses, including MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and influenza virus. The active form of molnupiravir, NHC triphosphate, acts as a nucleoside analog that disrupts viral replication by causing mutations in the viral RNA, thereby inhibiting viral growth. This review summarizes the results of multiple clinical trials that have evaluated the effectiveness of molnupiravir against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. Animal studies have also shown that molnupiravir significantly reduces the viral load and prevents transmission to other animals. Overall, molnupiravir has demonstrated strong efficacy and reasonable safety, reducing hospitalization rates by nearly 50% among COVID-19-positive individuals at risk of complications. Patients in clinical settings have tolerated molnupiravir well and experienced positive outcomes, such as clearance of viral RNA, decreased viral load, and reduced hospitalization rates. Additionally, compared to a placebo, molnupiravir has been associated with lower mortality rates. Therefore, molnupiravir can be a beneficial drug to treat patients suffering from SARS-CoV-2, and further studies can provide more information about its safety and efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhavarth Dave
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy Practice, L. M. College of Pharmacy, Opp. Gujarat University, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 380 009, India
| | - Kashvi C Shah
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy Practice, L. M. College of Pharmacy, Opp. Gujarat University, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 380 009, India
| | - Mehul R Chorawala
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy Practice, L. M. College of Pharmacy, Opp. Gujarat University, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 380 009, India.
| | - Nirav Shah
- Department of Pharmaceutics, SAL Institute of Pharmacy, Sola, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 380015, India
| | - Pranjal Patel
- Department of Pharmaceutics, SAL Institute of Pharmacy, Sola, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 380015, India
| | - Suzan Patel
- Department of Pharmaceutics, SAL Institute of Pharmacy, Sola, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 380015, India
| | - Palak Shah
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy Practice, K. B. Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Gh-6, Sector-23, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, 382023, India
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Lupia T, Corcione S, Shbaklo N, Boglione L, Torresan S, Pinna SM, Rizzello B, Bosio R, Fornari V, Brusa MT, Borrè S, De Rosa FG. Real-Life Experience of Molnupiravir in Hospitalized Patients Who Developed SARS-CoV2-Infection: Preliminary Results from CORACLE Registry. Antibiotics (Basel) 2022; 11:1541. [PMID: 36358196 PMCID: PMC9686801 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11111541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Revised: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 08/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Real-life experience of molnupiravir treatment is lacking, especially in people hospitalized for underlying diseases not related to COVID-19. We conducted a retrospective analysis regarding molnupiravir therapy in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection admitted for underlying diseases not associated with COVID-19. Forty-four patients were included. The median age was 79 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 51-93 years), and most males were 57,4%. The median Charlson Comorbidity Index and 4C score were, respectively, 5 (IQR: 3-10) and 9.9 (IQR: 4-12). Moreover, 77.5% of the patients had at least two doses of the anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, although 10.6% had not received any SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Frequent comorbidities were cardiovascular diseases (68.1%), and diabetes (31.9%), and most admissions were for the acute chronic heart (20.4%) or liver (8.5%) failure. After molnupiravir started, 8 (18.1%) patients developed acute respiratory failure, and five (11.4%) patients died during hospitalisation. Moreover, molnupiravir treatment does not result in a statistically significant change in laboratory markers except for an increase in the monocyte count (p = 0.048, Z = 1.978). Molnupiravir treatment in our analysis was safe and well tolerated. In addition, no patients' characteristics were found significantly related to hospital mortality or an increase in oxygen support. The efficacy of the molecule remains controversial in large clinical studies, and further studies, including larger populations, are required to fill the gap in this issue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tommaso Lupia
- Unit of Infectious Diseases, Cardinal Massaia, 14100 Asti, Italy
| | - Silvia Corcione
- Department of Medical Sciences, Infectious Diseases, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy
- School of Medicine, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA
| | - Nour Shbaklo
- Department of Medical Sciences, Infectious Diseases, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy
| | - Lucio Boglione
- Department of Translational Medicine (DiMET), University of Eastern Piedmont, Via Solaroli 17, 28100 Novara, Italy
| | - Stefano Torresan
- Department of Medical Sciences, Infectious Diseases, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy
| | - Simone Mornese Pinna
- Department of Medical Sciences, Infectious Diseases, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy
| | - Barbara Rizzello
- Department of Medical Sciences, Infectious Diseases, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy
| | - Roberta Bosio
- Department of Medical Sciences, Infectious Diseases, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy
| | - Valentina Fornari
- Department of Medical Sciences, Infectious Diseases, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy
| | | | - Silvio Borrè
- Unit of Infectious Diseases, Saint Andrea Hospital, 13100 Vercelli, Italy
| | - Francesco Giuseppe De Rosa
- Unit of Infectious Diseases, Cardinal Massaia, 14100 Asti, Italy
- Department of Medical Sciences, Infectious Diseases, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy
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Chavda VP, Vuppu S, Mishra T, Kamaraj S, Patel AB, Sharma N, Chen ZS. Recent review of COVID-19 management: diagnosis, treatment and vaccination. Pharmacol Rep 2022; 74:1120-1148. [PMID: 36214969 PMCID: PMC9549062 DOI: 10.1007/s43440-022-00425-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2022] [Revised: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/25/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The idiopathic Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has reached global proportions; the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it as a public health emergency during the month of January 30, 2020. The major causes of the rise of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 are genetic mutations and recombination. Some of the variants with high infection and transmission rates are termed as variants of concern (VOCs) like currently Omicron variants. Pregnant women, aged people, and immunosuppressed and compromised patients constitute the most susceptible human population to the SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially to the new evolving VOCs. To effectively manage the pathological condition of infection, the focus should be directed towards prevention and prophylactic approach. In this narrative review, we aimed to analyze the current scenario of COVID-19 management and discuss the treatment and prevention strategies. We also focused on the complications prevalent during the COVID-19 and post-COVID period and to discuss the novel approaches developed for mitigation of the global pandemic. We have also emphasized on the COVID-19 management approaches for the special population including children, pregnant women, aged groups, and immunocompromised patients. We conclude that the advancements in therapeutic and pharmacological domains have provided opportunities to develop and design novel diagnosis, treatment, and prevention strategies. New advanced techniques such as RT-LAMP, RT-qPCR, High-Resolution Computed Tomography, etc., efficiently diagnose patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. In the case of treatment options, new drugs like paxlovid, combinations of β-lactum drugs and molnupiravir are found to be effective against even the new emerging variants. In addition, vaccination is an essential approach to prevent the infection or to reduce its severity. Vaccines for against COVID-19 from Comirnaty by Pfizer-BioNTech, SpikeVax by Moderna, and Vaxzevria by Oxford-AstraZeneca are approved and used widely. Similarly, numerous vaccines have been developed with different percentages of effectiveness against VOCs. New developments like nanotechnology and AI can be beneficial in providing an efficient and reliable solution for the suppression of SARS-CoV-2. Public health concerns can be efficiently treated by a unified scientific approach, public engagement, and better diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivek P. Chavda
- grid.419037.80000 0004 1765 7930Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, L M College of Pharmacy, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, 380009 Gujarat India
| | - Suneetha Vuppu
- grid.412813.d0000 0001 0687 4946Department of Biotechnology, Science, Innovation, and Society Research Lab 115, Hexagon (SMV), Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, 632014 Tamil Nadu India
| | - Toshika Mishra
- grid.412813.d0000 0001 0687 4946Department of Biotechnology, Science, Innovation, and Society Research Lab 115, Hexagon (SMV), Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, 632014 Tamil Nadu India
| | - Sathvika Kamaraj
- grid.412813.d0000 0001 0687 4946Department of Biotechnology, Science, Innovation, and Society Research Lab 115, Hexagon (SMV), Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, 632014 Tamil Nadu India
| | - Aayushi B. Patel
- grid.419037.80000 0004 1765 7930Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, L M College of Pharmacy, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, 380009 Gujarat India
| | - Nikita Sharma
- grid.412813.d0000 0001 0687 4946Department of Biotechnology, Science, Innovation, and Society Research Lab 115, Hexagon (SMV), Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, 632014 Tamil Nadu India
| | - Zhe-Sheng Chen
- grid.264091.80000 0001 1954 7928Department of Pharmaceutical Science, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John’s University, New York, NY 11439 USA
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