Patent landscape of novel technologies for combating category-A Arenavirus infections

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Arenavirus are unique category-A pathogens that are also classified as Orphan diseases. Very few options exist currently for treating Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (VHF) caused by viruses belonging to the Arenaviridae family [1]. The current review provides detailed patent landscape and a description of selected technologies developed for combating category-A Arenavirus. Currently, Arenavirus infections are epidemic [2] but could cause widespread pandemics due to ease of dissemination and lack of immunity against these viruses.

Areas covered

The key strings for selected Arenavirus VHF were run separately in MCPaIRS®, PatSeer, and Questel database. The search was limited to Title, Abstract and Claim fields; one member per patent family was considered for analysis.

Expert opinion

Synthetic molecules dominate the patent landscape, while natural products have not been extensively claimed for the treatment of Arenavirus infection. The broad-spectrum activity has been highly desired for Arenavirus treatment, but few reports have experimentally tested it. With each year, a constant increase in number of patents published is seen, while the maximum number of applications was filed in 2017. The research in VHF is driven by public funds; the maximum numbers of patents were filed by publicly funded organizations.

KEYWORDS:

• Arenavirus
• MCPaiRS®
• Questel
• ribavirin
• NIAID
• WHO
• VHF

Article highlights

• Arenavirus infections are category-A pathogens causing sporadic infections, which are also designated as Orphan diseases.

• Currently available treatments are supportive care and Ribavirin.

• VHF are epidemic, with a good probability of becoming widespread pandemic.

• VHF have 15–20% mortality rate, with the exception of LCMV. LCMV infections are mild and asymptomatic in 70% of the cases.

• Synthetic molecules dominate the patent landscape, while natural products have not been extensively claimed for the treatment of Arenavirus infection.

• A constant increase in number of patents published is seen, while the maximum number of applications was filed in 2017.

• The research in VHF is driven by public funds; maximum numbers of patents were filed by publicly funded organizations.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Chandraprasad MS for critical review of the manuscript and Mr. Jebakumar Samuel for suggestion in drafting the search strategy and patent analysis.

Declaration of interest

All authors of this manuscript are employees of Molecular Connections Pvt. Ltd. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Supplemental Material

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Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.