DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-9, 11, 13, and 16-24, submitted 11 June 2026, are pending in the application. Claims 16-24 remain withdrawn. Claims 1-9, 11 and 13 are subject to examination in the instant Office Action.
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 .
Rejections – Maintained
The status of the previously rejected claims in the Office Action mailed on 13 March 2026 are set out below.
Rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103
The Applicant’s arguments are not sufficient to overcome the previous rejection for the reasons set out below.
Rejections under Nonstatutory Double Patenting
The Applicant has not submitted a Terminal Disclaimer to overcome this rejection requesting that the Examiner hold this rejection in abeyance until all issues have been resolved.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 11 June 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant has argued that the compounds of the instantly claimed invention, through methylation of the hydrogen at the R1 position, provide unexpected results of improved stability and/or less inhibition of CYP enzymes in comparison to the compounds of the prior art.
To rebut the Applicant’s arguments, the Examiner would like to cite a new reference, explicitly to address this argument. Schönherr and Cernak ("Profound Methyl Effects in Drug Discovery and a Call for New C- H Methylation Reactions." Angewandte Chemie International Edition 52.47 (2013): 12256-12267.), henceforth known as Schonherr, teaches the effects of methylation in drug discovery. Schönherr discloses that “methyl groups are commonly installed in an effort to improve a molecules biological activity and physical properties” (pg. 12257, Section “Introduction”, Left Col., 1st paragraph). This is followed by stating “Methylation is used to optimize many properties of a drug candidate” and that “methylation can have a favorable effect on binding affinity” (pg. 12257, Section “Introduction”, Left and Right Col., 2nd paragraph). To the Applicant’s argument regarding the increased metabolic stability, Schönherr teaches that methylating next to a metabolic hot spot might sterically block metabolism and lengthen the half-life or if a drug candidate is long-lived and excreted from the body at a rate too slow for the desired dosing regimen, a medicinal chemist may methylate to introduce a new metabolic hot spot and decrease half-life (pg. 12257, Section “Introduction”, Left and Right Col., 2nd paragraph). Therefore, the methylation of the compounds of the instantly claimed invention are viewed to be obvious modifications that could be achieved by one of ordinary skill in the art by optimization through routine experimentation and which provide a basis to conclude that the better stability to metabolic hydrolysis and/or less exhibited inhibition of CYP enzymes observed by Applicants as a result of methylation are in fact an expected outcome of methylation.
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 JUSTIN CHRISTOPHER SANCHEZ whose telephone number is (703)756-5336. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Friday (0730-1700).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James H Alstrum-Acevedo can be reached at 571-272-5548. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JUSTIN CHRISTOPHER SANCHEZ
Examiner
Art Unit 1622
/J.C.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1622
/JAMES H ALSTRUM-ACEVEDO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1622
