HIV Therapy patent landscape - 2009/04

Discovered in 1983, the HIV virus has been the subject of intensive research and development within the academic and industrial sectors. With the perspective of a global market of 10 billion US$, applicants filed more than 6800 patents and patent applications.

Protease and Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors were the first therapies to be investigated and still are the major therapies on the market. Entry and Integrase inhibitors were then investigated since 1995 and are now the major therapeutics under clinical development.

Despite the huge increase in HIV market and the needs for new therapies, multiple signals are showing that HIV research and development is running short of new thematic and is practically collapsing since 2005 with a 40% drop in the number of patent applications. This paradox hides multiple scenarios with former leaders becoming followers and new companies emerging on specific or yet unexplored segments. In the same times, new collaborations are forming changing drastically acquired positions between established players.

After 25 years of successes and drawbacks in the treatment of HIV, this IP Overview provides you with a comprehensive panorama of the intellectual property landscape and helps you: