We always buy mouse invivo antibody from Xcell, but rarely see other company selling the antibody against the same protein. I also see some people already applied the patent for the antibody use. Why does Xcell have the right to sell the antibody?
Also, how does the patent of antibody work? As there could be many different antibody(various clones) against the same protein, when you apply a patent, does that mean all the clones are under protected?
1. The patent (if it exists) does not give the proprietor a right to sell the product, it only gives the proprietor the right to exclude others from doing the "claimed invention". This is one of the most common misconception of patents in general.
Anybody can sell the "claimed invention" but if in doing so infringes the patent proprietor's rights, the person / company can be sued in court. If Xcell is the proprietor or has a licence, then it wouldn't be sued. This is the simple version but things are usually not so straightforward.
2. The "claimed invention" is recited in the claims portion of the patent, typically at the end of the patent specification for US patents. This is the part which actually determines what the patent scope is, i.e. what others are excluded from doing. For an infringement, the product being sold must contain all the elements in the claim.
For example, if claim 1 for an antibody comprises A + B + C. The product must have A, B and C.
As there could be many different antibody(various clones) against the same protein, when you apply a patent, does that mean all the clones are under protected?
This is a very complex question. In the US, a "doctrine of equivalents" is practiced. The US courts will consider whether the different features between the product and claim are "equivalent".
Regardless of the above, whether a company sells a product is typically a business decision, it could be that the demand for the mouse antibody is not high enough for other companies to want a piece of the action as well or the method of antibody production is difficult for others to replicate. There need not actually be a patent involved. This is not really my field and I cannot say how easy or difficult it is to make the antibodies.
Hope this helps clear your doubts!
As a preamble I would like to remind you that it is almost impossible to create two completely identical antibodies (without being plagiarized): it is this dogma that ensures the protection of a monoclonal antibody.
BioXcell is a company that has made mass production of antibodies a strategic commercial axis, primarily for in vivo use in mice.
Which is why it is the main distributor in the antibody market.
Mass production is very complicated especially when one wants to practice very low prices. BioXcell appears to have succeeded in this highly competitive market. But this hides some breaches of market rules.
While most monoclonal antibodies are not protected by specific patents, this does not mean that they are free of rights. They have a creator who owns it and who can dispose as he wants. Generally these monoclonal antibodies are redistributed under MTA or under licenses, exclusive or not.
In case these antibodies are copied by genetic engineering, they can not be resold or distributed as such, in particular their use can not be published without the agreement of the owner: it is the user client who will be held responsible for As well as the newspaper that published it.
I would like to give an example with a rat monoclonal antibody which is widely used in mice to deplete pDCs, this clone, MIPC 120G8, of which SPRI is proprietary, was resold by two companies Biocéros and BioXcell without legal authorization.
Both companies were obliged to cease this illicit resale, and the clients of these companies were forced to destroy their stock and make a modification to their publication.
In fact the patent protects the work and the license protects the product, giving meaning to the life and work of the researcher.
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