International Drug Repurposing Patent Landscaping, Part 3: Chronic Neurodegenerative Diseases 2010–2024

This study presents a comprehensive landscape of international drug repurposing patent applications published between January 2010 and December 2024, encompassing four chronic neurodegenerative disease groups of major societal and economic significance: Alzheimer’s disease and related primary dementias (49 documents), Parkinson’s disease (22 documents), multiple sclerosis (25 documents), and peripheral neuropathies (13 documents). The analysis was restricted to patent applications that disclosed supporting experimental data. Patent publication activity remained relatively stable throughout the 15-year investigation period, with the exception of a modest decline during 2021–2023, likely reflecting the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. Our analysis reveals agents from a remarkable diversity of therapeutic classes being claimed for repurposing, predominantly targeting pharmacological mechanisms distinct from those underlying their original approved indications. Although none of the repurposed agents identified in this landscape has yet received regulatory approval for these neurodegenerative indications, this patent-based analysis provides unique insights into repurposing activities in therapeutically challenging conditions from an intellectual property perspective that substantially differs from findings reported in the peer-reviewed literature.