Concert Pharmaceuticals lands patents for hydrogen-like compound

By Mass High Tech staff

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Lexington-based Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc. has been awarded two patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its technology pertaining to deuterium separation from sea water.

According to the company, deuterium is a safe and natural hydrogen compound, but is heavier than hydrogen itself and able to form a stronger bond to a drug’s carbon atom. The bonding quality enables it to better the metabolic properties of a drug.

Concert Pharmaceuticals officials outlined in a press release that the patents cover “deuterium analogs of rimonabant and mosapride.”

The company uses deuterium to develop new medicines for HIV/AIDS, fibrotic diseases and vasomotor symptoms. Last September, Concert Pharmaceuticals began Phase 1 clinical trials of its non-hormonal treatment for vasomotor symptoms, commonly known as hot flashes. The trials were expected to test the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of the company’s deuterium-containing serotonin drug, CTP-347.

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