A list of Taiwan patents for drugs undergoing clinical trials that might be effective against COVID-19 was published by the Intellectual Property Office under the Ministry of Economic Affairs March 12, spotlighting efforts to provide transparent information regarding potential treatments.
The patent status released by the IPO includes protections on drugs’ composition, ingredients, usages and preparations as well as the duration of patent rights and license numbers.
Medications on the list fall into three levels of legal protection. First are those with domestic patents covering their active ingredients like remdesivir, danoprevir and novaferon, used to treat Ebola, hepatitis C and hepatitis B, respectively.
Some of the medications have partial protections not covering active ingredients, such as lopinavir/ritonavir, fingolimod and bevacizumab, which help manage acquired immune deficiency syndrome, multiple sclerosis and cancer, respectively. The others are medicines whose patents have expired, including oseltamivir, hydroxychloroquine and eculizumab, for curing influenza, malaria and hemoglobinuria, respectively.
According to Chang Shan-chwen, infectious disease expert at the Central Epidemic Command Center, three patients were already being treated with remdesivir as of March 26. Hydroxychloroquine is also expected to improve the condition of those with less severe symptoms, he added.
The IPO provided the list as a reference for local pharmaceutical companies seeking potential coronavirus therapies. Article 59 of the Patent Act states that carrying out necessary acts to exploit inventions for research or experimental purposes does not constitute patent infringement, the IPO added. (YCH-E)
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