When does rifaximin patent expire in the eu?

There isn’t a single EU “rifaximin patent expiry” date. In the EU, protection for rifaximin comes from multiple patent families (covering the chemical substance, salts, formulations, and specific uses) plus regulatory protections (SPCs and data exclusivity). These can overlap and have different expiry dates. So the correct answer depends on which patent family and which protections you’re asking about, and in which EU country.

What to check to get an accurate date
- Patent status (EP patents): Look up rifaximin in the European Patent Office (EPO) data (Espacenet). Identify all patent families that cover rifaximin (composition, salts, formulations, methods of use) and note their expiry dates (usually 20 years from earliest filing date, subject to maintenance).
- Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs): For medicinal products, an SPC can extend protection beyond the patent term by up to 5 more years after regulatory approval. Check the EU SPC database (and the EPO) for any rifaximin SPCs and their expiry dates.
- Regulatory data exclusivity: In the EU, a new active substance generally gets 8 years of data exclusivity and 2 years of market exclusivity, with possible 1 additional year for new indications. This can delay generic entry even after patent/SPC expiry.
- Marketing authorisation dates: The first EU authorisation date for a rifaximin product affects SPC length; you’ll want to verify when the first EU product was authorised to interpret any possible extension.

If you’d like, I can look up the current status for a specific EU country or for the EU as a whole and list the active patent families and SPCs with their expiry dates. Tell me:
- Do you want EU-wide status or for a particular country (e.g., Germany, France, UK if you’re including EEA post-Brexit)?
- Are you asking about the base chemical patent, a specific salt/formulation, or a particular use patent (e.g., for traveler's diarrhea, hepatic encephalopathy, etc.)?

I can then pull the latest from Espacenet/EPO and the SPC/EMA databases and give you a concise expiry chart.