The pharmaceutical industry continues to be a hotbed of patent innovation. Activity is driven by the evolution of new treatment paradigms, and gravity of unmet need, as well as the growing importance of technologies such as pharmacogenomics, digital therapeutics, and artificial intelligence. In the last three years alone, there have been over 136,000 patents filed and granted in the pharmaceutical industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Innovation in pharma: alopecia treatment drugs. Buy the report here.
However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilizing and reaching maturity.
Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.
80+ innovations will shape the pharmaceutical industry
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the pharmaceutical industry using innovation intensity models built on over 730,000 patents, there are 80+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, engineered multispecific antibodies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and mutant DNA polymerases are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Peptide pharmacophores, antibody-drug conjugates, and neuroprotective drugs are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are amyloid precursor targeted therapies and modified vector HIV-1 vaccines, which are now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for the pharmaceutical industry

Alopecia treatment drugs is a key innovation area in pharmaceutical
Alopecia treatment drugs are used to treat alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition in which hair is lost in patches in size of a large coin. The hair loss can occur in any hair-containing part of skin.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 590+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established pharmaceutical companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of alopecia treatment drugs.
Key players in alopecia treatment drugs – a disruptive innovation in the pharmaceutical industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of applications identified for each patent. It broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of countries each patent is registered in. It reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to alopecia treatment drugs
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, and Giuliani are among the leading patent filers for alopecia treatment drugs. AbbVie Ventures invested $15m in the alopecia programme of Stemson Therapeutics, which is working on new approach for the treatment of alopecia using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)-derived folliculogenic cells. Another leading patent filer Caregen, is developing synthetic peptide for the treatment of alopecia. Amorepacific Group.
In terms of application diversity, Royalty Pharma is the top company, followed by Cosmax and Shiseido.
By geographic reach, Joventis holds the top position, while Almirall and Lonza Group are in second and third positions, respectively.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the pharmaceutical industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Pharmaceutical.
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