Tundup,

"How do you protect a patent on Vacespa?"

I'm no patent lawyer, so I won't pretend to be one.

"Surely anyone can purify fish oils to get pure EPA Omega 3?"

A few issues here: Prescription vs. OTC, purification, chemical form and FDA approved use.

Vascepa has been FDA approved for plasma triglyceride lowering for over 6 years now. Vascepa is only available by prescription. Vascepa is not just purified EPA, but is in the chemical form of ethyl esters of purified EPA. As TopCoin pointed out, there are other FDA approved prescription omega-3 products out there too (none of which are available OTC) as well as other omega-3 products still in clinical development (I won't get into those here). GSK's Lovaza was the first of a series products to be first approved in 2004 for triglyceride lowering. Lovaza is a mix of purified EPA and DHA in the form of ethyl esters. Note that Vascepa is EPA ethyl ester only. There is some data to suggest that DHA, but not EPA, raises LDL-C. Another product is Astrazeneca's Epanova, which is a mix of DHA and EPA omega-3 carboxylic acids (aka free fatty acids) and approved by FDA in 2014 for triglyceride lowering. Again, note that this is a mix of DHA and EPA and not EPA only and that these are not ethyl esters. OTC fish oil is not purified to only include DHA and EPA. It contains several other fatty acids AND more importantly these fatty acids are in the chemical forms of triglycerides and phospholipids (the natural chemical form). No OTC product is in the free fatty acid or ethyl ester form. Lastly, Vascepa is the first omega-3 product to succeed in a CVOT trial, and will likely be the first omega-3 product to be able to be marketed for reducing MACE.

BDAZ