Model Medicines’ antiviral intellectual property portfolio encompasses 15 patent families covering novel compositions of matter, multi-scaffold Markush chemistry, formulations, and broad-spectrum methods of use across RNA and DNA viruses
San Diego, CA — Model Medicines, an AI-first biotechnology company developing first-in-class therapeutics, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted it U.S. Patent No. 12,551,475 B2. This is the first patent issued in a comprehensive intellectual property portfolio supporting the company’s virology program. The portfolio includes the company’s lead broad-spectrum antiviral candidate, MDL-001, and a franchise of next-generation New Chemical Entity (NCE) assets targeting the conserved RdRp Thumb-1 allosteric site. The portfolio encompasses 15 patent families that provide patent coverage through at least 2046.
Model Medicines’ antiviral patent estate provides layered protection across the full scope of the virology program, including novel compositions of matter, multi-scaffold Markush chemical structures encompassing broad chemical genera generated through the company’s GALILEO™ AI drug discovery platform, proprietary formulations, and methods of broad-spectrum antiviral uses. The portfolio is structured as a multi-compound, multi-indication therapeutic franchise built around a conserved biological mechanism through at least 2046.
“This first patent grant signals the depth and deliberateness of the intellectual property estate we have built around our virology program generally and MDL-001 specifically,” said Daniel Haders, PhD, Founder and CEO of Model Medicines. “This patent grant is the first in what will be a sustained expansion of IP protection across the Model Medicines virology franchise. The portfolio we have constructed protects the novel Thumb-1 chemical space discovered by our GALILEO platform across scaffolds, indications, formulations and methods of use. Model Medicines is well position in intellectual property position for anyone evaluating the RdRp Thumb-1 antiviral space.”
About the Target: RdRp Thumb-1, A Conserved and Druggable Allosteric Target
Conventional scientific wisdom holds that allosteric sites on viral polymerases diverge too rapidly to enable broad-spectrum Direct Acting Antiviral (DAA) development.
Model Medicines overturned this assumption by demonstrating the structural conservation of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) Thumb-1 allosteric pocket across viral families. The Thumb-1 site governs an essential mechanism for viral replication. The Thumb-1 pocket interacts with the viral Λ1-loop to control an indispensable conformational change required for polymerase initiation. Viruses cannot abandon this mechanism without sacrificing their replicative fitness. This target discovery is the biological foundation for the Model Medicines’ Virology Program.
About MDL-001: Discovery and Preclinical Profile
Model Medicines utilized its AI-driven GALILEOTM platform to discover novel broad-spectrum inhibitor chemistry for this target within a multi-scaffold Markush structure. The research team trained GALILEOTM on a proprietary dataset spanning multiple viral families. This training enabled the model to learn the structural and chemical features underlying broad-spectrum Thumb-1 inhibition.
A library of potent inhibitors has been discovered, reduced to practice and validated. Specifically, MDL-001 is the first DAA shown to be potent against multiple viral families in vitro: Orthomyxoviridae, Pneumoviridae, Coronaviridae, Flaviviridae, Komioviridae, and Hepadnaviridae. MDL-001 has demonstrated multi-log antiviral efficacy against SARS-CoV-2, HCV and HBV in animal models. Furthermore, in vivo results demonstrate superiority or equivalence to multiple standards of care, including sofosbuvir, oseltamivir, remdesivir, and nirmatrelvir.
Model Medicines virology program, the discovery of the RdRp Thumb-1 site, and MDL-001 preclinical Proof-of-Concept data have been peer reviewed, accepted and presented at IDWeek 2025[1], AASLD 2025[2], HepDART 2025, and CROI 2026[3]. The company will present further data at ESCMID 2026[4],[5]. The full preclinical data readout can be found here. Model Medicines plans to file an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the FDA for MDL-001 in late 2026 and anticipates commencing clinical trials in 2027.
About Model Medicines.
Model Medicines is an AI-first biotechnology company engineering first-in-class small molecules that target the biological linchpins underlying disease. The company’s research spans infectious disease, oncology, and inflammation, with programs designed around conserved molecular choke points that drive multiple pathologies. Model Medicines has discovered a direct-acting, non-nucleoside, broad-spectrum antiviral (MDL-001) and a potent, selective and novel BRD4 inhibitor (MDL-4102). Its work demonstrates how large-scale computation can uncover entirely new classes of drugs once thought unreachable. Model Medicines is advancing a new generation of therapeutics that redefine what is possible in modern drug discovery. Learn more at www.modelmedicines.com
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www.modelmedicines.com
[1] MDL-001: A Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Targeting the Thumb-1 Domain of Viral Polymerases, Open Forum Infectious Diseases, Volume 13, Issue Supplement_1, January 2026, ofaf695.084, https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofaf695.084
[2] MDL-001 As A Next Generation Hcv Thumb-1inhibitor With Clinical-Stage Safety, The Liver Meeting: 2025 Abstracts. (2025). Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.), 82(S1), S1–S2308. https://doi.org/10.1097/HEP.0000000000001493
[3] MDL-001, a novel oral thumb-1 polymerase inhibitor, shows efficacy in HCV/HBV in vitro and in vivo. Paper presented at: Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI); February 22-25, 2026; Denver, CO. Abstract 589. https://www.croiconference.org/abstract/2417-2026/
[4] MDL-001, an oral direct-acting Thumb-1 polymerase inhibitor, demonstrates single-agent efficacy against HCV/HBV co-infection in vitro, and achieves HCV and HBV preclinical proof-of-concept. Abstract presented at: ESCMID Global 2026; April 18, 2026; Munich, Germany. Abstract 5778.
[5] MDL-001, an oral direct-acting Thumb-1 polymerase inhibitor, demonstrates broad-spectrum activity against influenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus, and SARS-CoV-2 with oral proof-of-concept in mice. Abstract presented at: ESCMID Global 2026; April 18, 2026; Munich, Germany. Abstract 5803.
