Treatments and compositions for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a patent review

Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a syndrome that affects children prior to 12 years of age. ADHD manifests as inappropriate behavior and learning difficulties and, in many cases, it persists into adulthood. In most cases, pharmacological treatment is sufficient; however, this approach frequently does not address all symptomatology of comorbidities and also affects the risk of secondary side effects that may influence compliance.

This review emphasizes the recent progress in ADHD treatment, which was published in the patent literature from 2005-2015. We focused on novel mechanisms of action and potential treatments for achieving control of ADHD comorbidities, offering theoretical advantages compared with current medication. Newer agents are also proposed in recent patents and compounds for child and adult ADHD.

The patented drugs and compositions may provide a greater opportunity to develop more personalized, effective, and tolerable medications, without the liability of abuse. Particularly interesting will be the results obtained with drugs with a dual mechanism of action, agonists of trace amine receptors, and compounds that exhibit cognitive enhancing properties. Effectiveness and efficacy studies are also necessary to determine whether the characteristics of different drugs are related to their effects on disease.