SOM Biotech files for first patent in the United States
It is for their product SOM-0525, an inhaler to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
BY BIOCAT
SOM Biotech, a biopharmaceutical start-up located in the bioincubator at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB) that focuses on discovering and developing new indications for previously known drugs, is moving forward successfully on their path towards an internationally patented product portfolio.
Last February, the company filed their first patent application in the United States to protect their product SOM-0525, an inhaler to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) based on a drug that was recently authorized for oral administration. The US application will give them priority for a global patent.
The company, founded and led by Dr. Raúl Insa, aims to apply for four more patents in the second quarter of this year for fungicidal and antibiotic products as well as an anti-asthma drug, SOM-1033.
First round of funding finished
SOM Biotech closed their first round of funding at the beginning of the year, with participation from six private investors and Catalan venture capital company Innova31, as well as contributions from ACC1Ó, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science and Technology. All of this new capital will be put towards discovering new medical applications, using their own computational techniques, validating the new uses through experiments in cell and/or animal models and then protecting the company’s intellectual property and licensing it.
“We are moving forward satisfactorily according to our business plan,” explained Dr. Raúl Insa. “Our highly qualified team, in addition to a group of international experts we have set up recently, allows us to advance in developing new opportunities and ensure a robust, global intellectual property in record time. The end goal is to license these new patents, which cover a clear medical need, to the pharmaceutical sector.”
SOM Biotech focuses exclusively on repositioning drugs, a strategy that allows them to save time and money that goes into discovering and later developing a new drug. Risks to human safety and industrial production, according to the company, are minimized as they work with products that are, or have been, available on the market. Once SOM Biotech has discovered and validated a new medical use for the product through preclinical trials, they start up the protection process by applying for patents and/or worldwide coverage, which is then licensed or jointly developed through agreements with pharmaceutical laboratories.