A Belgian company has been awarded a patent which covers any screening process using the ORL1 receptor. Presumably, if any company or individual wants to screen drugs using this particular receptor, they would have to pay Euroscreen a licensing fee.
But isn't the idea of using a receptor to screen drugs obvious, and hence not patentable? I agree that a particular assay or set of reagents or a set of ligands are patentable. But a receptor? Can I go out and write a patent application that says I've "discovered" that I can use the 5HT1D receptor to screen for drugs to treat migraine?
Note that they are not claiming discovery, only use in screening.
Somebody help me out here...
Euroscreen - Drug Discovery Company
Euroscreen SA today announced that it has been issued an U.S. patent that covers the use of an important human neurology drug target. The receptor, a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) known as the human nociceptin (ORL1) receptor, is implicated in the control of some key neurological processes, such as pain perception, analgesia, and anxiety. Euroscreen’s patent protects any screening process using this receptor in order to find compounds that modulate its activity, and thus may have pharmaceutical potential.
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