The pharmaceutical industry continues to be a hotbed of patent innovation. Activity is driven by the evolution of 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 136,000 patents filed and granted in the pharmaceutical industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Innovation in pharma: anti-interleukin (IL) monoclonal antibodies. Buy the report here.

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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 multi-specific 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

Anti-IL monoclonal antibodies is a key innovation area in the pharmaceutical industry

Anti- interleukin (IL) humanized monoclonal antibodies are a type of biopharmaceutical drug that specifically target and bind to IL molecules – a type of cytokine – in the body, preventing their activity and reducing inflammation and immune responses associated with various autoimmune disorders, inflammatory diseases and cancer.

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 435+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established pharmaceutical companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of anti-IL monoclonal antibodies.

Key players in the anti-IL monoclonal antibodies space – 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 anti-IL monoclonal antibodies space

Company Total patents (2021 - 2023) Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies
Immatics 667 Unlock Company Profile
F. Hoffmann-La Roche 654 Unlock Company Profile
Amgen 460 Unlock Company Profile
Johnson & Johnson 342 Unlock Company Profile
Bristol-Myers Squibb 324 Unlock Company Profile
Iovance Biotherapeutics 283 Unlock Company Profile
Novartis 277 Unlock Company Profile
AbbVie 276 Unlock Company Profile
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 248 Unlock Company Profile
AstraZeneca 245 Unlock Company Profile
OncoTherapy Science 203 Unlock Company Profile
Sanofi 162 Unlock Company Profile
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals 160 Unlock Company Profile
UCB 152 Unlock Company Profile
Merck 150 Unlock Company Profile
Gilead Sciences 134 Unlock Company Profile
Takeda Pharmaceutical 133 Unlock Company Profile
Kirin 128 Unlock Company Profile
GSK 125 Unlock Company Profile
Eisai 102 Unlock Company Profile
Daiichi Sankyo 96 Unlock Company Profile
CRISPR Therapeutics 92 Unlock Company Profile
Abbott Laboratories 87 Unlock Company Profile
Stryker 87 Unlock Company Profile
The Lundbeck Foundation 86 Unlock Company Profile
Innovative Cellular Therapeutics 74 Unlock Company Profile
Autolus 73 Unlock Company Profile
Grifols 71 Unlock Company Profile
XOMA 69 Unlock Company Profile
Miltenyi Biotec 68 Unlock Company Profile
Pfizer 67 Unlock Company Profile
C. H. Boehringer Sohn 67 Unlock Company Profile
Xencor 63 Unlock Company Profile
Zoetis 63 Unlock Company Profile
Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine 62 Unlock Company Profile
Eli Lilly 62 Unlock Company Profile
UK Research and Innovation 59 Unlock Company Profile
XBiotech 59 Unlock Company Profile
Acorda Therapeutics 59 Unlock Company Profile
Baxter International 52 Unlock Company Profile
bluebird bio 50 Unlock Company Profile
Esbatech Alcon Biomed Research Unit 48 Unlock Company Profile
Mereo BioPharma 5 45 Unlock Company Profile
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center 44 Unlock Company Profile
Eutilex 44 Unlock Company Profile
Abbott Biotechnology 44 Unlock Company Profile
Gracell Biotechnologies 43 Unlock Company Profile
Shanghai Junshi Bioscience 41 Unlock Company Profile
Pierre Fabre Foundation 39 Unlock Company Profile
Light Chain Bioscience 38 Unlock Company Profile

Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics

Immatics is one of the leading patent filers in anti-IL monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The company’s TCER platform is used to develop bi-specific antibodies. By using this technique, the company develops anti-IL mAbs for the treatment of various diseases.

In terms of application diversity, Iovance Biotherapeutics leads the pack, while OncoTherapy Science and Immatics stood in the second and third positions, respectively.

By means of geographic reach, Stryker held the top position, followed by Zoetis and Acorda Therapeutics.

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.