Smarter leaders trust GlobalData

Premium Insights Cell & gene therapy in pharma: cancer CAR-T receptors

Buy the Report

Premium Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Related Company Profiles

Pfizer Inc

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

bluebird bio Inc

View all

According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 668,000 patents to analyze innovation intensity for the pharmaceutical industry, there are 80+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.

Cancer CAR-T receptors is a key innovation area in cell & gene therapy

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy is an innovative and promising immunotherapy approach for the treatment of certain types of cancer. CAR-T cells are engineered immune cells designed to target and destroy cancer cells effectively. The key component of CAR-T cells is the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), which serves as a synthetic receptor that redirects T cells to recognize and attack cancer cells. CARs are composed of several critical elements, including an extracellular antigen-binding domain, a transmembrane domain, and intracellular signaling domains. The extracellular domain contains the receptor that recognizes specific antigens on cancer cells.

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 640+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established pharmaceutical companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of cancer CAR-T receptors.

Key players in cancer CAR-T receptors – 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 cancer CAR-T receptors

Immatics is one of the leading patent filers in cancer CAR-T receptors. Immatics is a biopharmaceutical company that has been involved in the development of CAR-T cell therapies targeting specific cancer antigens. Immatics' CAR-T therapies are based on T-cell receptors (TCRs), which are different from traditional CARs. The company has a pipeline of TCR-based therapies in development. In 2022, Immatics and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) expanded their strategic alliance to pursue the development of multiple allogeneic off-the-shelf TCR-T and/or CAR-T programs. BMS and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center are some of the other key patent filers in cancer CAR-T receptors.

In terms of application diversity, Immunovative Therapies leads the pack, while bluebird bio and Massachusetts General Hospital stood in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Immatics held the top position, followed by Immunovative Therapies and Pfizer.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the pharmaceutical industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Pharmaceutical.

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.