Is Merck’s 2007 Patent Filing for Topical Finasteride Just to Squeeze Out Other Companies?

I heard Merck applied for a patent for a topical finasteride product in 2007. Any recent news on this? And, do you know if this would be effective, or if it might be a move to enhance profits by weeding out companies selling topical finasteride?

I know very little about Merck’s patent for topical finasteride, although they did file 2 patents (one in 1993 and the other in 1995) in the general area of finasteride use on skin. Johnson and Johnson holds at least two patents for topical finasteride, so it does appear that this is a hot field and what differentiates one process from the other is something that I do not have the time to review. Does anyone with a bunch of time and interest care to go through these and create an itemized list?

Certainly both J&J and Merck are giants in the drug field, so if you wish to read these patents check them out in the Google Patent Search and have a blast reading the intricate legal jargon. Good luck!