Innovative advances for neglected tropical disease (NTD): A global perspective from intellectual property

Abstract

This study examines innovative advances related to neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), which have severe health, social, and economic consequences that affect more than one billion people worldwide. It addresses the 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals in tackling some of the “Grand Challenges,” such as dengue fever (DF), one of the primary and re-emerging diseases that have advanced worldwide in recent years. One of the challenges is the requirement that high investments in innovation can be rationalized by the potential returns sustained by the intellectual property protection system. This study answers the question: “How have dengue-related innovations been approached globally from an intellectual property perspective?” Seeking to shed light on innovative advances in NTD, this exploratory study adopted a (i) longitudinal approach, assessing the global impact of DF, and (ii) historical analysis from the intellectual property perspective, seeking the effectiveness of commercially viable solutions against the disease. An extensive search was conducted in international patent databases using Questel® Orbit Intelligence software to address the proposed objective. This study selected 2307 invention patent families (FamPat) from 1993 to 2023, of which nearly half have expired or been revoked. China is the largest jurisdiction, with 415 FamPat filings. However, many regions with a high global burden of DF lack intellectual protection for DF-related innovations. Although the number of Fampat is relatively high for DF, and the interaction between universities, government, and private companies shows the potential development of an innovation ecosystem, few technological solutions are available. This study concludes that the capacity to absorb knowledge influences the effectiveness of making a technology available as a commercial product.