The pharmaceutical industry continues to be a hotbed of patent innovation. Activity is driven by the evolution of 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 787,000 patents filed and granted in the pharmaceutical industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Innovation in pharma: small molecule kinase inhibitors. Buy the report here.
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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 stabilizing 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.
80+ innovations will shape the pharmaceutical industry
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According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the pharmaceutical industry using innovation intensity models built on over 668,000 patents, there are 80+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, engineered multi-specific antibodies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and mutant DNA polymerases are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Phenotypic drug screening, antibody-drug conjugates, and polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccines are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are drug delivery nanoparticles and antibody encoding polynucleotide libraries, which are now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for the pharmaceutical industry
Small molecule kinase inhibitors is a key innovation area in the pharmaceutical industry
Small molecule kinase inhibitors are a class of pharmaceutical compounds that are designed to target and inhibit protein kinases, a type of enzyme involved in cell signaling pathways. Small molecule kinase inhibitors work by binding to the active site of protein kinases, blocking their ability to phosphorylate target proteins. This interference disrupts cellular signaling pathways, leading to changes in cell behavior, including the inhibition of abnormal cell growth.
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 110+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established pharmaceutical companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of small molecule kinase inhibitors.
Key players in small molecule kinase inhibitors – 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 small molecule kinase inhibitors
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2022) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | 288 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Pfizer | 202 | Unlock Company Profile |
| ImmunoGen | 156 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Revolution Medicines | 126 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Gilead Sciences | 113 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals | 104 | Unlock Company Profile |
| GSK | 102 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Enanta Pharmaceuticals | 92 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Abbott Laboratories | 73 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Bayer | 71 | Unlock Company Profile |
| F. Hoffmann-La Roche | 66 | Unlock Company Profile |
| E. Merck | 60 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Catalent | 58 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Eurofins Scientific | 56 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Novartis | 46 | Unlock Company Profile |
| HitGen | 45 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Philip Morris International | 45 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Samsung Securities | 43 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Johnson & Johnson | 42 | Unlock Company Profile |
| AbbVie | 41 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Bayer Pharma (Bayer Schering Pharma) | 40 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Shenzhen Targetrx | 33 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Les Laboratoires Servier | 31 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Merck | 31 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Cypralis | 28 | Unlock Company Profile |
| CTI BioPharma | 25 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Molecular Targeting Technologies | 23 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Aprea Therapeutics | 23 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Flarer | 22 | Unlock Company Profile |
| S*BIO | 22 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Hangzhou DAC Biotech | 21 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Sanofi | 21 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Aeterna Zentaris | 19 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Biotronik | 18 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Youngjin Pharmaceutical | 18 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Cell Therapeutics | 18 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Cybrexa | 17 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Scohia Pharma | 17 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Lupin | 14 | Unlock Company Profile |
| GEn1E Lifesciences | 14 | Unlock Company Profile |
| InnoCare Pharma | 14 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Sutro Biopharma | 13 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Amgen | 12 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Suzhou Teligene | 12 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Teva Pharmaceutical Industries | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Suzhou M-Conj Biotech | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| LadRx | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| SymBio Pharmaceuticals | 10 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Hangzhou Zylox Pharma | 10 | Unlock Company Profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) is one of the leading patent filers in small molecule kinase inhibitors. BMS, a global pharmaceutical company, has developed several small molecule kinase inhibitors for the treatment of various diseases, including cancer indications. These inhibitors target specific protein kinases that play critical roles in the growth and progression of cancer cells. BMS continues to invest in research and development to expand its portfolio of kinase inhibitors and other therapeutics to address unmet medical needs in the field of cancer and beyond. Pfizer and ImmunoGen are some of the other key patent filers in small molecule kinase inhibitors.
In terms of application diversity, Sutro Biopharma leads the pack, while Bayer and Sanofi stood in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Enanta Pharmaceuticals held the top position, followed by AbbVie and GSK.
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.
