The pharmaceutical industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by the evolution of new treatment paradigms, and the gravity of unmet needs, 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 633,000 patents filed and granted in the pharmaceutical industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Innovation in Pharmaceuticals: Anti-HIV compositions.
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 stabilising 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.
110 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 756,000 patents, there are 110 innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, cell therapy for ocular disorders, coronavirus vaccine components, and DNA polymerase compositions are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Adeno-associated virus vectors, alcohol dehydrogenase compositions, and antibody serum stabilisers are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are anti-influenza antibody compositions and anti-interleukin-1, which are now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for the pharmaceutical industry
Anti-HIV compositions is a key innovation area in pharmaceuticals
Antiretroviral therapy is used for the treatment of HIV. Anti-HIV therapies include of non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), protease inhibitors, fusion inhibitors, C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) antagonists, integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTI), and post attachment inhibitor drugs. These drugs help to decrease the viral load and prevent the transmission of the infection.
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 150+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established pharmaceutical companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of anti-HIV compositions.
Key players in anti-HIV compositions – a disruptive innovation in the pharmaceutical industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to anti-HIV compositions
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2021) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| GSK | 486 | Unlock company profile |
| Johnson & Johnson | 240 | Unlock company profile |
| CareGroup | 189 | Unlock company profile |
| International AIDS Vaccine Initiative | 163 | Unlock company profile |
| Merck & Co | 149 | Unlock company profile |
| Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique | 138 | Unlock company profile |
| Esteve Pharmaceuticals | 124 | Unlock company profile |
| AECOM | 116 | Unlock company profile |
| Solon Eiendom | 110 | Unlock company profile |
| Fundacion IrsiCaixa | 90 | Unlock company profile |
| Pfizer | 78 | Unlock company profile |
| Inovio Pharmaceuticals | 74 | Unlock company profile |
| Theravectys | 64 | Unlock company profile |
| F. Hoffmann-La Roche | 64 | Unlock company profile |
| US Department of Health and Human Services | 62 | Unlock company profile |
| Mymetics | 61 | Unlock company profile |
| Mount Sinai Health System | 58 | Unlock company profile |
| Children's Medical Center | 57 | Unlock company profile |
| American Gene Technologies International | 56 | Unlock company profile |
| Altimmune | 56 | Unlock company profile |
| Xigen Inflammation | 53 | Unlock company profile |
| United States Of America | 52 | Unlock company profile |
| Triad National Security | 51 | Unlock company profile |
| Bavarian Nordic | 51 | Unlock company profile |
| New York Blood Center | 46 | Unlock company profile |
| U.S. Department of Defense | 44 | Unlock company profile |
| AGC | 43 | Unlock company profile |
| Minka Therapeutics | 42 | Unlock company profile |
| Globeimmune | 40 | Unlock company profile |
| Curevac | 40 | Unlock company profile |
| EpitoGenesis | 38 | Unlock company profile |
| Xigen | 37 | Unlock company profile |
| Sanofi | 33 | Unlock company profile |
| Vaxart | 31 | Unlock company profile |
| Academia Sinica | 31 | Unlock company profile |
| SEEK Group | 31 | Unlock company profile |
| Biovaxim | 28 | Unlock company profile |
| Gritstone Bio | 27 | Unlock company profile |
| United Biomedical | 25 | Unlock company profile |
| AlphaVax | 25 | Unlock company profile |
| Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine | 24 | Unlock company profile |
| Providence St. Joseph Health | 23 | Unlock company profile |
| CSL | 23 | Unlock company profile |
| GeoVax Labs | 20 | Unlock company profile |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | 20 | Unlock company profile |
| I'rom Group | 19 | Unlock company profile |
| ICREA | 19 | Unlock company profile |
| Novo Nordisk Foundation | 18 | Unlock company profile |
| Theraclone Sciences | 17 | Unlock company profile |
| FDS Pharma LLP | 17 | Unlock company profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
GSK is one of the leading patent filers in anti-HIV composition drugs. The company's subsidiary VIV Healthcare is a pioneer in developing HIV drugs. The company has several assets such as Triumeq and Tivicay, which are well established in the market. The company also has several pipeline assets in various stages of development targeting various parts of the virus.
In terms of application diversity, Theraclone Sciences is the top company, followed by AlbaJuna Therapeutics and National Health Laboratory Service. By means of geographic reach, Chinook Therapeutics holds the top position. Profectus BioSciences and SEEK 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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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
