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: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
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
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors is a key innovation area in pharmaceutical drug development
Tyrosine kinases catalyse the phosphorylation of select tyrosine residues in target proteins by using adenosine triphosphate (ATP). They can be divided into receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), non-receptor tyrosine kinases (NRTKs), and a few dual-specificity kinases (DSKs), which can phosphorylate serine, threonine, and tyrosine residues. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are a group of drugs that interfere with the signal transduction pathways of protein kinases, compete with ATP for the ATP binding site of PTK, and reduce tyrosine kinase phosphorylation, thereby inhibiting the proliferation of 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 30+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established pharmaceutical companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
Key players in tyrosine kinase inhibitors – 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 tyrosine kinase inhibitors
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2021) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| Seattle Children's Hospital | 61 | Unlock company profile |
| F. Hoffmann-La Roche | 60 | Unlock company profile |
| Cell Signaling Technology | 55 | Unlock company profile |
| Arog Pharmaceuticals | 51 | Unlock company profile |
| Opthea | 42 | Unlock company profile |
| Celldex Therapeutics | 40 | Unlock company profile |
| NMS Group | 38 | Unlock company profile |
| Pfizer | 36 | Unlock company profile |
| A. Menarini Industrie Farmaceutiche Riunite | 35 | Unlock company profile |
| City of Hope | 34 | Unlock company profile |
| OncoPlex Diagnostics | 28 | Unlock company profile |
| Aravive | 23 | Unlock company profile |
| Ligacept | 22 | Unlock company profile |
| UK Research and Innovation | 21 | Unlock company profile |
| Debiopharm Group | 19 | Unlock company profile |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | 17 | Unlock company profile |
| National Cancer Center | 17 | Unlock company profile |
| LifeSci Index Partners | 14 | Unlock company profile |
| Precigen | 13 | Unlock company profile |
| UAB Research Foundation | 13 | Unlock company profile |
| C. H. Boehringer Sohn | 12 | Unlock company profile |
| Sumitomo Chemical | 11 | Unlock company profile |
| Denka | 10 | Unlock company profile |
| Catalent | 10 | Unlock company profile |
| Genemedicine | 9 | Unlock company profile |
| WellMarker Bio | 8 | Unlock company profile |
| Vaxon Biotech | 8 | Unlock company profile |
| Shenzhen Salubris Pharmaceuticals | 7 | Unlock company profile |
| Calitor Sciences | 6 | Unlock company profile |
| Autolus | 5 | Unlock company profile |
| Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center | 5 | Unlock company profile |
| Amgen | 5 | Unlock company profile |
| Assistance Publique - Hopitaux de Paris | 5 | Unlock company profile |
| Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique | 5 | Unlock company profile |
| HEC Pharm Group | 5 | Unlock company profile |
| Vegenics | 5 | Unlock company profile |
| Cell Medica Switzerland | 5 | Unlock company profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Seattle Children's Hospital is the leading patent filer in tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Seattle Children's Hospital is a healthcare centre that offers paediatric and adolescent services. The centre conducts paediatric research and provides patient care services. It has operations in Seattle, Everett, Bothell, Wenatchee, Richland and Federal Way.
F. Hoffmann-La Roche and Arog Pharmaceuticals are the other key patent filers in the tyrosine kinase inhibitors space.
In terms of application diversity, Precigen is the top company, followed by F. Hoffmann-La Roche and Debiopharm Group. By means of geographic reach, Seattle Children's Hospital holds the top position. Whilst Celldex Therapeutics and UAB Research Foundation stand 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.
