The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted notice of allowance (NOA) to Collegium Pharmaceutical's patent application NO.12/823,628 covering a tamper-resistant, extended-release opioid product.
The patent entitled, 'Abuse-Deterrent Drug Formulation', covers Oxycodone DETERx (COL-003) product which utilizes the company's proprietary DETERx drug delivery technology.
Currently in the final stage of clinical development, the COL-003 product is designed to provide and preserve extended release of the active ingredient following the most common methods of product tampering employed by drug abusers (crushing, chewing, heating for IV injection, etc).
The company said the product has also received designation of Fast Track Status by the FDA due to its potential to address the problem of prescription drug abuse, a major public health issue in the US.
Collegium Pharmaceutical CEO Michael Heffernan said the newly allowed, product specific claims strengthen and expand the company's overall patent coverage for COL-003.
"We are continuing to focus on filing new patent applications that support COL-003 and the DETERx technology in both the U.S. and internationally," Heffernan added.
