Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 17/920,583

H4 ANTAGONIST COMPOUNDS

Final Rejection §DP
Filed
Oct 21, 2022
Examiner
MCDOWELL, BRIAN E
Art Unit
1624
Tech Center
1600 — Biotechnology & Organic Chemistry
Assignee
Nxera Pharma UK Limited
OA Round
2 (Final)
74%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 4m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 74% — above average
74%
Career Allow Rate
818 granted / 1102 resolved
+14.2% vs TC avg
Strong +30% interview lift
Without
With
+30.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
58 currently pending
Career history
1160
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.0%
-39.0% vs TC avg
§103
15.0%
-25.0% vs TC avg
§102
19.5%
-20.5% vs TC avg
§112
47.6%
+7.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1102 resolved cases

Office Action

§DP
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . DETAILED ACTION Status of Claims Claims 1-4, 6, 7, 9-11, and 21-30 are pending in the instant application. Newly submitted claims 21-30 are directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons: The aforementioned claims are drawn to methods of treatment using the elected compounds of claim 1 and said compounds may be used in vitro. Since applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally presented invention, this invention has been constructively elected by original presentation for prosecution on the merits. Accordingly, claims 21-30 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03. An action on the merits of claims 1-4, 6, 7, and 9-11 is contained herein. Previous Objections/Rejections Any rejections or objections stated of record in the office action mailed on 9/5/2025 that are not explicitly addressed herein below, are hereby withdrawn in light of applicant's arguments and/or amendments filed 12/5/2025. Status of Rejections Double Patenting The rejection of claims 1-4, 6, 7, and 9-11 is maintained. Applicant’s amendments, see Remarks, filed 12/5/2025, with respect to the rejection set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 9/5/2025, have been fully considered and the rejection will be held in abeyance (note that no arguments or amendments were made in respect to the elected species as the center point of this rejection). New Objections Claim Objections Claims 2 and 9-10 are objected to because of the following informality: The text in claim 2, “Example 16” should be removed. Thus the claim and claims dependent on it are objected to. Correction is required. Conclusion No claims are allowed. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN E MCDOWELL whose telephone number is (571)270-5755. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30-6 MF. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Murray can be reached at 571-272-9023. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /BRIAN E MCDOWELL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1624
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 21, 2022
Application Filed
Sep 03, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §DP
Dec 05, 2025
Response Filed
Feb 22, 2026
Final Rejection — §DP (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
74%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+30.3%)
2y 4m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 1102 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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