Proprietary drug

Proprietary drug are chemicals used for medicinal purposes which are formulated or manufactured under a name protected from competition through trademark or patent.[1] The invented drug is usually still considered proprietary even if the patent expired.[2] When a patent expires, generic drugs may be developed and released legally. Some international and national governmental organizations have set up laws to enforce intellectual property to protect proprietary drugs, but some also highlight the importance of public health disregarding legal regulations.[3][4] Proprietary drugs affect the world in various aspects including medicine, public health and economy.

Not all proprietary drugs have their generic replacements available. Biologics are often produced by in vivo preparation and direct extraction of substances from living organisms.[5] Pharma is not extensively involved in searching for ready-to-sell generic biologics due to the complexity of manufacture and hurdles in extraction processes.[6] Besides vaccines, these endogenous origin chemicals are prescribed to patients with severe conditions, such as complications including asthma, rheumatoid arthritis,[7] or cancer. Patients taking a particular brand of biologics are unable to interchange between one and another to prevent underlying exposure to more side effects and/or suboptimal treatment.[6] It is believed that generic biopharmaceutical products will not be released in the near future until all technical difficulties are overcome.[8]

Viagra, a famous example of proprietary drug on the market

The table below shows some examples of pharma and their past/current proprietary medications:

Pharma Proprietary medications
Pfizer Viagra (sildenafil),[9] Comirnaty (tozinameran, co-op with BioNTech)[10]
GlaxoSmithKline Amoxil (amoxicillin),[11] Ventolin (salbutamol)[12]
Sanofi Dupixent (dupilumab, co-op with Regeneron Pharmaceutical),[13] Lantus (insulin glargine)[14]
  1. ^ "APA Dictionary of Psychology". dictionary.apa.org. Archived from the original on 2018-04-27. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  2. ^ "OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS" (PDF). Hong Kong Legislative Council. 11 May 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :22 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :23 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Research, Center for Biologics Evaluation and (2019-02-28). "What Are "Biologics" Questions and Answers". FDA. Archived from the original on 2022-11-06. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
  6. ^ a b "Generic Biologic Drugs - Drugs". MSD Manual Consumer Version. Archived from the original on 2023-05-10. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  7. ^ "Updated Guideline for the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis" (PDF). American College Of Rheumatology. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 12, 2020.
  8. ^ Calo-Fernández, Bruno; Martínez-Hurtado, Juan Leonardo (2012-12-12). "Biosimilars: Company Strategies to Capture Value from the Biologics Market". Pharmaceuticals. 5 (12): 1393–1408. doi:10.3390/ph5121393. ISSN 1424-8247. PMC 3816668. PMID 24281342.
  9. ^ Wilson, Jacque (2013-03-27). "Viagra: The little blue pill that could". CNN. Archived from the original on 2023-03-25. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  10. ^ Browne, Ryan (2020-11-11). "What you need to know about BioNTech — the European company behind Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2021-03-04. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  11. ^ "Espacenet – search results". worldwide.espacenet.com. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  12. ^ "Sir David Jack". www.telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2011-11-25. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  13. ^ "Document". www.sec.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-10-21. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  14. ^ "Long Acting Insulin For Diabetes | Lantus® (insulin glargine injection) 100 Units/mL". www.lantus.com. Archived from the original on 2024-07-12. Retrieved 2023-06-23.