Mechanistically acting anti-obesity compositions/formulations of natural origin: a patent review (2010-2021)

Introduction: Current health trends indicate that the rate of incidence of obesity has risen considerably. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report 2017, the issue of obesity has grown to an epidemic proportion, with over 4 million people dying every year. Orlistat, a potent pancreatic lipase (PL) inhibitor for long-term treatment of obesity has been recently reported to cause hepatic and renal toxicities. Hence, there is a need to develop newer, safer and efficacious therapeutics that targets obesity and its associated disorders. Areas covered: The present article attempts to review patents on compositions of natural origin that include either combination of two or more lead NPs/whole extract(s)/ mixture of one or more NPs/extracts from various plants and micro-organisms. Patents that were granted during the period 2010 to 2021 have been considered. Expert opinion: The article highlights the recent trends in the rise of the global obesity population. Patents are classified based on the mechanism of action of extracts/NPs. It has been observed that in the years 2013, 2017 and 2019 maximum number of patents from China, South Korea, United States and Japan have been filed for the anti-obesity compositions.