Gap in patent filings for biological and small-molecule drugs widening, says Withers & Rogers

The number of patent applications filed by leading pharmaceutical companies for biological drugs has exceeded those for small molecules for at least the last 15 years but there is now evidence that the gap has increased significantly since 2007, according to research by Withers & Rogers, a UK law firm specializing in intellectual property.

Research into the patent filing activity of the top 10 pharma companies between 2007 and 2009 has revealed that, despite an overall decline in the number of patents filed – a fall of 31.5% - the gap between the number of patents filed for biologics and small molecules has grown by 14.5%. By 2009, 60% of the patents filed by these top pharma companies were for biologics. The research shows that only 129 “patent families” of drugs in leading markets were sought by the top 10 drug companies in 2009, down from 189 in 2007.