Eagle, my understanding of the patent process is slightly...

Eagle, my understanding of the patent process is slightly different from yours.

Neuren filed two provisional patent applications with IP Australia late last year which we might assume are related to NNZ-2591. One was filed on 28 October and the other on 20 December. The filing date of these applications becomes the priority date of any eventual patent.

IP Australia explains the nature of an Australian provisional patent application thus:

A provisional application is an inexpensive way of signalling your intention to file full patent application later on. Think of it as a placeholder.

A priority date establishes the fact that you are the first person to file a new invention with us. While a provisional application doesn’t provide you with the protection of a full patent, it does give you up to 12 months to consider your options before deciding to proceed with a patent application.

If you do decide to apply for a standard patent, you can use the priority date from your provisional application. This can be particularly useful if there is a dispute over who came up with an idea first.

https://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/applying-patent/provisional-application-process

Provisional patents in Australia are not examined, nor granted, and only last for 12 months. By then, the applicant must decide whether they wish to take it further. If so, they have the choice of applying for a standard patent or making a PCT patent application (if they intend to protect the invention globally).

Although IP Australia will publicly disclose that an application has been filed, it simply publishes the invention title and applicant name without providing details about the content of the application. If the applicant decides to proceed with the patent and file for international protection, the World Intellectual property Organization (WIPO) will then publish the patent content after the expiration of 18 months from the priority date. Final granting (allowance) of a patent can take years.

I certainly don’t think that Neuren will wait until publication or allowance of any new patents before disclosing the new NNZ-2591 indications it has planned for clinical development.