BIO 2015: Antibiotics market could lag for a decade, says patent study
The antibiotics market could lose out for a decade due to inadequate research and development (R&D) in the area, according to a report published by UK law firm Marks & Clerk today, June 16.
The firm presented its report, “From rare to routine”, at the 2015 BIO International Convention in Philadelphia.
By comparing the patenting trends in three therapeutic areas—rare diseases, antibiotics, and vaccines—the report indicated how government incentives to innovate can have an impact on R&D.
It found that since 2004 research into new antibiotics classes has accounted for less than 5% of antibiotics-related patent filings. However, despite the worldwide decline in patent filings in the area, since 2004, the number of patents granted has been increasing year-on-year.
Patents covering modifications of known antibiotics, such as penicillin, are most often filed, though there is some research into entirely new classes, the report said.
Amgen filed the most patents related to new antibiotics, while the two biggest filers of antibiotics patents in both new and known classes are Chinese companies Tianjin Shengji Group and Shandong Xuanzhu Pharmaceutical Technology.
Gareth Williams, a Cambridge-based partner at Marks & Clerk, who co-authored the report, said that China is seen as emerging as a “major force in the field of antibiotics”.
He told LSIPR that Chinese filers in the antibiotics space typically apply for domestic patents, while non-Chinese companies tend to file more widely.
He also noted a trend where non-Chinese companies are starting to file less widely as they used to, taking a more “targeted approach”.
However, companies in China are not as prolific filers in the rare disease area as those in the US, EU and Japan, said the report. Williams suggested this could be because China does not have the same incentives to innovate in this area.
Accordingly, the report said, pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, Merck, Novartis and Johnson & Johnson are the biggest filers in the area, along with Novartis, GSK and Roche. US companies and universities are also prevalent in the area, it added.
The report showed that public organisations tended to file the most vaccine-related patent applications—the US Department of Health filed more than double the number than any other filer—though veterinary research bodies were also big filers in the area.
Williams told LSIPR that low levels of antibiotic patenting are a concern, but countries including the UK, with its Commission on Antibiotic Resistance, and the US, with the recently announced National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, are working to address the problem.
He said in the report: “We hope the results of these reviews, together with increasing public pressure and media attention, will result in an increase in research into antibiotics, particularly from big pharma. The USA is a clear leader in this area, but the statistics suggest it is less dominant than in rare diseases and vaccines, with China in particular innovating more and more.”
The 2015 BIO International Convention is taking place in Philadelphia from June 15 to 18.
