Editorial Anti-infective patenting: Is there a changing pattern?

Abstract

Anti-infectives remain a major therapeutic area for many pharmaceutical companies, both in terms of compounds already marketed and patenting activity. In general, the level of patenting activity over the last decade has steadily increased, however, when the data are broken down into each of the four major areas; antiviral, antibacterial, antiparasitic and antifungal, subtle changes and trends can be seen. This article aims to analyse the patterns in anti-infective patenting and highlights the key players in each of the four fields of research.