Personalised medicine

Personalised medicine is transforming healthcare by tailoring treatments to specific patient populations, often based on genetic or other biomarker features. But while the science is moving fast, the patent landscape presents ongoing challenges.

At HGF, we advise clients on securing protection for personalised therapies, companion diagnostics, and patient stratification methods. Key issues in this space include differing approaches to diagnostic claims and novelty, particularly the concept of inherency in US law, compared to EPO standards. These differences are crucial when claiming treatments of newly identifiable patient groups who may have previously received a treatment without a formal diagnosis.

Our team has significant in-house experience in both small and large molecule drug development, particularly in oncology. We also understand the complexities of collaboration between pharma companies and diagnostic partners, and the contractual and IP issues these arrangements raise.

Whether advising on freedom-to-operate, licensing, or securing robust protection for personalised medicine, HGF brings legal expertise, sector insight, and commercial awareness to help clients in this evolving field.

Latest updates

The FoodTech Series #1 | Multi-parameter claims, examples outside the scope of the claims: when improvement occurs and evidence becomes easier to demonstrate

            The Boards of Appeal of the EPO (BoA) are the appeal body that reviews EPO decisions; in this case, they ruled on an opposition …

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The Antibody Series #5 | Epitope-defined antibody claims: when “binds to this epitope” becomes a risk of insufficiency

The Boards of Appeal of the EPO (BoA) are the appeal body that reviews decisions made at the EPO; here, they reviewed an appeal in opposition proceedings after the revocation …

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The Antibody Series #4 | pH points in antibody claims: when “same pH ” becomes an addition of matter

The Boards of Appeal of the EPO (BoA) are the appeal body that reviews EPO decisions; in this case, they reviewed a revocation in opposition of a patent relating to …

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Agritech Thymes: The Bite of Implied Consent: Lessons from the Pink Lady Case

Can the supply of a plant variety without clear and defined restrictions on its use be an implicit consent to commercialise it? This case centres on the evidence required to …

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The Bite of Implied Consent: Lessons from the Pink Lady Case

A recent European Union court decision considers the issue of implied consent to commercialise a plant variety, and whether the evidence meets the threshold of “serious doubts” of the validity …

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How France's investment in digital health, AI, and bioinformatics is transforming the intellectual property (IP) landscape

In recent years, France has become a key player in digital health innovation, driven by strategic government investments under the France 2030 initiative and the French Tech 2030 program. These …

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Agritech Thymes: A review of protection for gene edited plants

As we head into a new season, it’s a good time to revisit the current status of protection for Essentially Derived Varieties (EDVs) and plants derived from New Genomic Techniques …

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Agritech Thymes: Agritech 2030: Forecasting the Technologies Poised to Transform Farming

Whilst yet to recover to the levels of 2011-2021, where capital invested in agritech increased 20-fold, investor funding in agritech is starting to pick up, and 2025 is set to …

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Let's talk

If you would like to discuss how HGF could help you, contact one of our personalised medicine specialists.