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 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 633,000 patents filed and granted in the pharmaceutical industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Innovation in Pharmaceuticals: CRISPR nucleases.
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
CRISPR nuclease is a key innovation area in pharmaceutical development
CRISPR, which refers to clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, are bacteriophage-derived DNA sequences that had previously infected the prokaryote and are found in the genomes of bacteria and archaea. Cas, also called CRISPR associated proteins, are a family of nucleases such as Cas9, Cas12a, Cas12b, and CasX that process these sequences. The eukaryotic genome can be cut at any desired position by introducing plasmids containing Cas genes and specifically constructed CRISPRs into eukaryotic cells. CRISPR nucleases serve as an important genome editing tool.
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 190+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established pharmaceutical companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of CRISPR nucleases.
Key players in CRISPR nucleases – 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 CRISPR nucleases
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2021) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| Editas Medicine | 376 | Unlock company profile |
| CRISPR Therapeutics | 352 | Unlock company profile |
| Intellia Therapeutics | 326 | Unlock company profile |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals | 304 | Unlock company profile |
| E. Merck | 264 | Unlock company profile |
| Caribou Biosciences | 264 | Unlock company profile |
| Inscripta | 198 | Unlock company profile |
| ToolGen | 184 | Unlock company profile |
| Massachusetts General Hospital | 175 | Unlock company profile |
| Corteva | 159 | Unlock company profile |
| Bayer | 123 | Unlock company profile |
| Beam Therapeutics | 116 | Unlock company profile |
| Sangamo Therapeutics | 105 | Unlock company profile |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals | 103 | Unlock company profile |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | 76 | Unlock company profile |
| Danaher | 75 | Unlock company profile |
| General Hospital | 74 | Unlock company profile |
| Intima Bioscience | 70 | Unlock company profile |
| Snipr Technologies | 65 | Unlock company profile |
| Tropic Biosciences UK | 65 | Unlock company profile |
| Modalis Therapeutics | 61 | Unlock company profile |
| Arbor Biotechnologies | 59 | Unlock company profile |
| Arc Bio | 55 | Unlock company profile |
| Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings | 54 | Unlock company profile |
| Agilent Technologies | 49 | Unlock company profile |
| Seattle Children's Hospital | 48 | Unlock company profile |
| KSQ Therapeutics | 46 | Unlock company profile |
| Cellectis | 46 | Unlock company profile |
| Excision BioTherapeutics | 45 | Unlock company profile |
| Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories | 43 | Unlock company profile |
| G+FLAS Life Sciences | 41 | Unlock company profile |
| Royal DSM | 41 | Unlock company profile |
| SNIPR Biome | 36 | Unlock company profile |
| Children's Medical Center | 36 | Unlock company profile |
| Flagship Pioneering | 36 | Unlock company profile |
| Ligandal | 35 | Unlock company profile |
| Fate Therapeutics | 35 | Unlock company profile |
| Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals (Beijing) | 35 | Unlock company profile |
| EdiGene | 33 | Unlock company profile |
| IONTAS | 33 | Unlock company profile |
| China National Chemical | 32 | Unlock company profile |
| Factor Bioscience | 32 | Unlock company profile |
| ElevateBio | 31 | Unlock company profile |
| Thermo Fisher Scientific | 31 | Unlock company profile |
| Poseida Therapeutics | 30 | Unlock company profile |
| Keygene | 30 | Unlock company profile |
| Biocad | 29 | Unlock company profile |
| Synthego | 29 | Unlock company profile |
| AnGes | 28 | Unlock company profile |
| Children's Hospital of Philadelphia | 27 | Unlock company profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Editas Medicine is one of the most important players concerning innovation surrounding CRISPR nucleases. The company is largely involved in genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9 and CRISPR/Cas12a systems. Developing both in vivo and ex vivo gene editing medicines, Editas Medicine is primarily involved in the haematology and oncology therapy areas.
In terms of application diversity, Factor Bioscience is the top company followed by Ligandal and IONTAS. By means of geographic reach, Massachusetts General Hospital holds the top position. Biocad and Sangamo Therapeutics are in the 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.
