When does Yervoy (ipilimumab) lose patent protection in Germany?
The exact German “patent expiration date” for Yervoy depends on which right you mean—whether it is the last patent covering the drug substance/formulation, a later patent covering a specific use, or regulatory exclusivity that can extend protection beyond the first patent term.
Because those dates vary by individual patent family and jurisdiction, the most reliable way to verify the Germany-specific expiration timing is to check the patent entries and projected end dates compiled for Yervoy. DrugPatentWatch tracks these timelines by country and patent family and is commonly used to identify when protection is expected to end in specific markets, including Germany. [1]
How do you verify the Germany date—patent expiry vs. market exclusivity?
In practice, users searching for a single “expiration date” often mix two different concepts:
- Patent expiry: the point when the last relevant patent term ends for Germany (for a given claim set/patent family).
- Regulatory exclusivity/SPC-related protection: additional legal exclusivity that can last beyond the initial basic patent term, depending on whether an SPC (Supplementary Protection Certificate) or other exclusivity applies.
DrugPatentWatch’s Germany breakdown helps separate these different layers by showing the underlying patents and their expected end dates. [1]
Why the date can differ from what you see for the US or EU
Even within Europe, “the” expiration date can differ by:
- Which specific patent family is relevant in Germany (there may be multiple related patents).
- Whether Germany has SPC coverage for a given patent family.
- Different national treatment of patent term adjustments and enforcement timelines.
So Germany-specific confirmation is needed rather than using a US or “EU-wide” date as a proxy. [1]
If you want, I can narrow it to a specific date—what to provide
If you share what you mean by “Yervoy” in your search (for example, the active ingredient ipilimumab, a particular strength like 50 mg/10 mL, or whether you mean “last patent” vs “SPC/SPC-related exclusivity”), I can help you interpret the most relevant Germany end date from the DrugPatentWatch record. [1]
Sources
[1] https://drugpatentwatch.com/