Key Highlights

  • The Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam has granted Recce Pharmaceuticals a Family 4 patent covering its RECCE 327 and RECCE 529 anti-infective candidates, with an expiry date of 2041.
  • The patent covers the process for preparation of RECCE anti-infectives and their use in treating bacterial and viral infections, including validated applications across skin, diabetic foot, burn wound, lung and urinary tract infections, among others.
  • This is Recce's eighth Family 4 patent, joining grants in major pharmaceutical markets including Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan and Brazil.
  • Vietnam is highlighted as a strategically significant market given its high rates of antimicrobial resistance, including 71% resistance to Penicillin and up to 90% multidrug resistance rates reported in some hospital settings.

Recce Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX:RCE; FSE:R9Q) has announced that the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam has formally granted a Family 4 patent covering the company's RECCE 327 and RECCE 529 anti-infective candidates, with the patent set to expire in 2041.

Scope of the Vietnamese Patent

The granted claims relate to the process for preparation of RECCE anti-infectives and their use in the treatment of disease, particularly bacterial and viral infections. The patent specifically covers validation from studies across a range of indications, including Acute Bacterial Skin and Skin Structure Infections, Diabetic Foot Infections, burn wounds, lung infections such as ventilator-associated and hospital-acquired pneumonia, urinary tract infections, gonorrhoea, influenza and SARS-CoV-2. The claims also cover multiple routes of administration, including oral, inhalation, transdermal delivery or injection into the bloodstream, intramuscularly or intravenously, as well as formulation as an aerosol, gel, topical foam, ointment or impregnated dressing.

Part of a Broader Global Patent Strategy

This is Recce's eighth Family 4 patent, adding to grants already in place across some of the world's largest pharmaceutical markets, including Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan and Brazil, with further Patent Cooperation Treaty submissions in various stages of review across other jurisdictions. The company describes its intellectual property strategy as focused on protection across strategically important antibiotic markets, with Vietnam representing one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing pharmaceutical markets.

Why Vietnam Is a Strategically Relevant Market

The Vietnamese pharmaceutical market is described as valued at approximately US$7 billion to US$8 billion, with projections to surpass US$10 billion to US$16 billion by 2026. Recce highlights that Vietnam faces one of the region's most pressing antimicrobial resistance challenges, citing data showing 71% of people resistant to Penicillin and 92% resistant to Erythromycin. The company also cites hospital data from southern Vietnam showing multidrug resistance rates of 74.6% for Escherichia coli, approximately 60% for Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 90% for Acinetobacter baumannii, which it says underscores the need for novel anti-infective therapies capable of addressing multidrug-resistant pathogens.

Significance of Patent Protection for Recce's Pipeline

Securing patent protection across a growing list of jurisdictions is intended to safeguard the commercial potential of Recce's anti-infective platform as it progresses through clinical development, providing a protected intellectual property runway extending to 2041 in Vietnam specifically. Broadening geographic patent coverage is a common strategy for pharmaceutical companies seeking to support future licensing, partnership or commercialisation discussions across multiple regional markets simultaneously.

The Broader Antimicrobial Resistance Backdrop

Antimicrobial resistance has been identified by global health authorities as one of the more pressing long-term public health challenges, as bacteria and other pathogens increasingly develop resistance to existing antibiotic treatments. This dynamic has increased interest across the pharmaceutical industry in novel classes of anti-infective compounds, such as Recce's synthetic platform, that work through mechanisms distinct from conventional antibiotics, potentially offering treatment options against pathogens that have become resistant to existing drug classes.

Share Market Context

Recce Pharmaceuticals shares were recently trading at $0.38, down 2.56% on the day, according to intraday market data. As a clinical-stage company developing a new class of synthetic anti-infectives, Recce's share price is likely to remain more directly influenced by clinical trial progress and data readouts than by individual patent grants, though an expanding intellectual property estate can support the company's broader commercialisation and partnering narrative over time.

Conclusion

The Vietnamese patent grant extends Recce Pharmaceuticals' intellectual property protection for its RECCE 327 and RECCE 529 anti-infective candidates into a fast-growing Southeast Asian pharmaceutical market facing pronounced antimicrobial resistance challenges. As the company's eighth Family 4 patent, the grant adds to an expanding global protection footprint alongside major markets such as Japan, Canada and Brazil, though patent protection alone does not confirm clinical or commercial success, which will continue to depend on the outcome of Recce's ongoing clinical development programs. Investors following the company may wish to track further patent grants alongside clinical trial updates as indicators of the platform's progress.