Antibiotics risks another 'lost decade' as patent filings lag behind

The antibiotics market is badly neglected and risks another lost decade, while research into rare diseases continues at a rapid pace, according to a new report from intellectual property firm Marks & Clerk.

Less than 5% of patents filed for antibiotic research since 2004 are focused in new classes of antibiotics, and the study showed that Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) is the lead filer of patents relating to new antibiotics. The levels of patent filing in antibiotics are much lower than in rare diseases, though there has been a gradual increase in numbers year-on-year since 2009.

Marks & Clerk found that the top two filers of antibiotic patents are Chinese companies, Tianjin Shengi Group, and Shandong Xuanzhu Pharmaceutical Technology, but universities are also key in this field: the Universities of California and Texas are the third and eighth highest filers.