I am trying to find out when the AIDS drug "Combivir" manufactured by
GlaxoSmithKline was patented and it when it first went on the market.

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Clarification of Question by minarah-ga on 05 Oct 2006 13:01 PDT

Through my own searching I realized that Combivir is a combination of
AZT (retrovir/zidovudine) and 3TC (Lamivudine).  I don't know how
patents work, I suppose it is possible if the two compentents already
have a patent you do not need a new patent for the combination? If
that is true then I need the patent information for the two
components, but if not just the information for Combivir is what I
need!

Thanks!

Dear minarah,

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued the patent for the
antiviral combination of the two active ingredients lamivudine and
zidovudine, branded as "Combivir", on 12 January 1999. The patent
number is 5,859,021.

The U.S. trademark "Combivir" for that drug was applied for by Glaxo
Group Limited on 20 February 1997 and registered by the Trademark
Office on 19 May 1998.

Combivir was launched in the USA on 26 September 1997.

Hope this answers your question!
Regards,
Scriptor



Sources:

Médecins Sans Frontières: Annexes (PDF file)
http://www.accessmed-msf.org/upload/ReportsandPublications/492001113146/Annexes.pdf

GalaxoSmithKline: Annual Report - Intellectual Property
http://www.gsk.com/financial/reports/ar/report/descrip_of_bus/intell_property/intell_prop.html

United States Patent and Trademark Office: Patent Database
http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html

United States Patent and Trademark Office: Trademark Database
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=login&p_lang=english&p_d=trmk

FDA Drug Database
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda/index.cfm

Man - no wonder you guys are google researchers.  Perfect answer and fast! Thanks :)