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: Pyridine derivatives.
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
Pyridine derivatives is a key innovation area in the pharmaceutical industry
Pyridine is a colourless/slightly yellow liquid with an alkalescence and a strong and unpleasant fish-like odour. Pyridine derivatives contain one nitrogen atom in a six-membered aromatic ring and are the most extensively used heterocycles in the field of drug design, due to their promising effect on pharmacological activity, which has led to the discovery of numerous broad-spectrum therapeutic agents. The US FDA database has 95 approved pyridine derivatives, including isoniazid and ethionamide (tuberculosis), delavirdine (HIV/AIDS), abiraterone acetate (prostate cancer), and tacrine (Alzheimer’s).
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 80+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established pharmaceutical companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of pyridine derivatives.
Key players in pyridine derivatives – 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 pyridine derivatives
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2021) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | 146 | Unlock company profile |
| Corteva | 135 | Unlock company profile |
| F. Hoffmann-La Roche | 123 | Unlock company profile |
| GSK | 87 | Unlock company profile |
| 3B Future Holding | 82 | Unlock company profile |
| Amgen | 80 | Unlock company profile |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals | 78 | Unlock company profile |
| Xenon Pharmaceuticals | 66 | Unlock company profile |
| Semiconductor Energy Laboratory | 63 | Unlock company profile |
| Bayer | 53 | Unlock company profile |
| Cytokinetics | 53 | Unlock company profile |
| Lundbeck Foundation | 50 | Unlock company profile |
| Merck & Co | 47 | Unlock company profile |
| NodThera | 46 | Unlock company profile |
| Takeda Pharmaceutical | 44 | Unlock company profile |
| CHDI Foundation | 43 | Unlock company profile |
| PTC Therapeutics | 42 | Unlock company profile |
| Ono Pharmaceutical | 39 | Unlock company profile |
| Zoetis | 38 | Unlock company profile |
| BASF | 36 | Unlock company profile |
| Glenmark Pharmaceuticals | 36 | Unlock company profile |
| Oryzon Genomics | 35 | Unlock company profile |
| China National Chemical | 34 | Unlock company profile |
| Gilead Sciences | 33 | Unlock company profile |
| Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique | 32 | Unlock company profile |
| Agios Pharmaceuticals | 29 | Unlock company profile |
| Adeka | 26 | Unlock company profile |
| Nippon Soda | 26 | Unlock company profile |
| Pfizer | 24 | Unlock company profile |
| Kissei Pharmaceutical | 24 | Unlock company profile |
| Abivax | 20 | Unlock company profile |
| Vectus Biosystems | 20 | Unlock company profile |
| Imago BioSciences | 20 | Unlock company profile |
| Obschestvo S Ogranichennoi Otvetstvennostiyu Pharmenterprises | 20 | Unlock company profile |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals | 20 | Unlock company profile |
| C. H. Boehringer Sohn | 19 | Unlock company profile |
| MorphoSys | 17 | Unlock company profile |
| Shionogi & Co | 17 | Unlock company profile |
| DuPont de Nemours | 15 | Unlock company profile |
| BerGenBio | 14 | Unlock company profile |
| E. Merck | 14 | Unlock company profile |
| Vivace Therapeutics | 13 | Unlock company profile |
| Ligand Pharmaceuticals | 13 | Unlock company profile |
| Evotec | 13 | Unlock company profile |
| MMV MEDICINES FOR MALARIA VENTURE | 12 | Unlock company profile |
| Leidos Holdings | 12 | Unlock company profile |
| Bionomics | 12 | Unlock company profile |
| Yumanity Therapeutics | 11 | Unlock company profile |
| Arbutus Biopharma | 11 | Unlock company profile |
| Mitsubishi Chemical Group | 11 | Unlock company profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) is one of the leading patent filers of pyridine derivatives. BMS is a specialty biopharmaceutical company that is engaged in the discovery, development, licensing and manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sale of medicines and related medical products to patients with serious diseases. Its primary focus is on oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, and fibrotic therapeutic projects. Sotyktu (deucravacitinib) is one of the company’s approved assets used for the treatment of autoimmune disorders.
In terms of application diversity, Johnson & Johnson is the top company, followed by BerGenBio and Novartis. By means of geographic reach, The Lundbeck Foundation holds the top position. Abivax and Bionomics 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.
