GENE-THERAPY - THE DYNAMICS OF PATENTING WORLDWIDE

The first clinical trials for gene therapy started in 1990 and by 1997 about 200 clinical trials were underway worldwide. Despite this inten sive international effort, successful therapeutic applications for gen e therapy are still absent. This paper analyses how the emergence of g ene therapy is reflected in international patent applications. The com parison of the development of gene therapy patenting with patenting in the pharmaceutical sector as a whole indicates that gene therapy is a very fast growing area, increasing by a factor of almost five between 1991 and 1995, compared to the small increase (by a factor of 1.1) se en for the pharmaceutical sector as a whole. These dynamics were mainl y driven by the United States. Europe has been a late starter, gaining ground in 1993 and 1994. Within Europe, France, Germany and Great Bri tain are the main players, contributing almost 90% of European patents in 1994 and 1995. Japanese patenting activity in gene therapy has bee n rather low so far, gaining shares of only about 2%. With the excepti on of Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, which is heading the list of the top 30 pat ent applicants, large multinational pharmaceutical companies do not pl ay a major role in patenting gene therapy relevant technologies. Rathe r, small and medium-sized biotech firms, universities and other resear ch organisations are the main technology providers. On a more general basis the results confirm the notion that these candidates are the maj or technology driving forces in modem biotechnology.