Drug Repurposing Patent Applications October–December 2024

<i>Here, we briefly discuss 17 PCT patent applications related to drug repurposing that were published during the final quarter of 2024. As always, we have chosen the documents based on significance only, which gave us a wide range of applicants, active agents, and geographic representation. Applicants are not only from the United States and China but also from Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and even remote places such as Algeria and Iceland. Significantly, the contribution from Iceland is how to induce therapeutic hypothermia-but with entacapone, used in Parkinson's disease. The UK company, HealX, presents data showing that Angelman syndrome, an intractable neurodevelopmental disorder, could be treated with the common NSAID sulindac. Gliclazide, an old antidiabetic, could potentially treat schizophrenia, as inventors from Chinese Ping An-Shionogi report. These are only a few highlights from the stream of documents that have been issued towards the end of 2024.</i>