EPO Rules European Patent for XenoPort's XP13512 is valid; Almirall grants Eisai marketing rights to cinitapride in China

The European Patent Office (EPO) Opposition Division has ruled that the European patent for the composition of matter of XP13512 (European Patent No 1 404 324), held by US drug developer XenoPort, is valid.

This favorable decision means that XenoPort retains composition-of-matter protection on multiple forms of XP13512 molecules, and its patent continues to be valid in Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Cyprus, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, the UK, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and Turkey until June 2022.

XP13512 is a new chemical entity that is being developed for restless legs syndrome, neuropathic pain and migraine prophylaxis. This investigational compound, also known as Horizant (gabapentin enacarbil) in the USA, is not presently marketed anywhere in the world. XenoPort is collaborating with Japan's Astellas Pharma and UK drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline to develop and commercialize XP13512.