The landscape of drug discovery in atherosclerosis and dyslipidaemia revisited: an update of patenting activity

Introduction: This paper is an update of a previous paper I published in Expert Opinion of Therapeutic Patents in 2008. The paper was a survey of patenting activity in the fields of atherosclerosis and dyslipidaemia, which identified trends in patenting by reviewing two major mechanistic categories, metabolic/dyslipidaemia and vascular/inflammation, as well as examining the interest in certain specific targets over a period of 10 years. Methods: In this update, the same methodology was followed using the Espacenet of the European Patent Office (EPO) to identify patents claiming therapeutics for atherosclerosis or dyslipidaemia (excluding the wider metabolic syndrome). Expert opinion: A major change in the field over the past 5 years has been the departure of larger companies from the field. This is reflected in the patenting activity. Patenting has been at a stable rate over the recent years with few new targets being highlighted. It is suggested that, for this field to return to the higher rates of patenting seen over 10 years ago, breakthroughs in translational medicine and in the ability to conduct clinical trials, particularly in biomarkers and imaging, will need to take place.