Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Welcome to the Perception Partners inaugural newsletter, discussing early detection of the IP and value at the heart of today's innovation economy. In this e-publication, we will showcase cutting edge capabilities, emerging technologies and tips and tricks for picking winning companies, technologies and people. We welcome your feedback on this new newsletter and any suggestions for future topics. Sincere thanks, Barry Brager Managing Partner Perception Partners |
| It's All About Value - Can it be Detected in IP?
Yes - and on a regular basis!
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Whether you are an investor, analyst, counsel, engineer, scientist or marketer, anticipating the value of IP and innovation is critical to decision-making. So how can value be identified ahead of the general market? It all comes down to relationships - observable linkages between assets and companies, people and projects, investments and profits. These linkages can be detected and quantified, driving insights that reduce risk and increase leverage for informed professionals. See below for a brief introduction to the linkages between players and markets related to a sizzling therapeutic area. And contact us if you want to identify insightful linkages in your portfolio areas.
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| Capsaicin - Hot IP
Hot pepper compound reduces pain in multibillion dollar market
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Chili
peppers are not only hot for your taste buds, they are rapidly becoming hot
for Big Pharma and Wall Street as well. Capsaicin, the compound that provides the peppers' "burn" (along with similar molecules) promises to
block pain more effectively and with fewer side effects than common opioids such
as morphine. This is accomplished by turning off the body's pain sensors in very targeted areas. Perception Partners estimates that the global pain market for capsaicin-based drugs could exceed $5
billion per year by 2012. In addition, capsaicin compounds are being targeted to a wide range of other conditions, from asthma to HIV.
From a Perception Partners US patent landscape analysis, we can observe the landscape leaders who own key capsaicin patents and review their focus on various therapeutic conditions. As illustrated below, Neurogen currently has the most US patent documents, though only two are granted patents. The balance are applications, and interestingly have been filed in just the past two years. Neurogen appears to be partnered with fellow top assignee Merck on collaborative clinical trials currently in early Phase II.
Landscape leader Pfizer filed
most of its fifteen patent applications in 2002, and significantly fewer since then. As with Neurogen, Pfizer compounds appear to be in Phase II clinical trials. Leader AlgoRx has many applications, but no issued patents. Most of
these were filed in 2003, with one or two additional applications filed each
year since then. The company has recently agreed to a merger with Corgentech to
form Anesiva. Leader Medtronic's portfolio was enhanced as the result of a merger in 2007 with Kyphon, apparently driven by Medtronic's intent to succeed in the lower back pain therapeutics
market. Leader Medical Merchandising, now known as Natures Benefit/Dr. Holt's Labs, actually holds the largest granted patent portfolio in capsaicin, which is related to topical arthritis care and which was developed around 1997. Also, while smaller player NeurogesX has relatively fewer patent applications, it is worth noting that its compounds have advanced to Phase III clinical trials.
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| There's More...
Therapeutic conditions most claimed in capsaicin IP |
Capsaicin and similar
compounds will undoubtedly be used to manage painful conditions such as neuralgias (e.g., post-shingles pain, HIV pain). In
addition, these drugs will ideally reduce the need for excessive pain
medication post-surgery.
Capsaicin compounds address the large global diabetic pain market
(there are more than sixteen million diabetics in the US alone). From the exhibit below, it may be observed that most capsaicin IP leaders appear to be building significant portfolios targeted toward neuropathic pain, abdominal pain or arthritis.
Other therapeutic areas of interest include: bronchitis, as evidenced by the Pfizer portfolio (capsaicin aids in the expulsion of mucous by helping to thin phlegm and ease its expulsion from the lungs); bladder cancer, an approach taken by the University of Pittsburgh; and autoimmune diseases, a focus of Merck. This quick look at the capsaicin IP landscape
suggests that numerous companies - both "big pharma" and smaller technology-focused
start-ups are positioning themselves to capture value in emerging therapeutic markets.Deeper analysis can
suggest strategic growth opportunities (or threats) for market players
as well as investor stakeholders.
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Perception Partners provides rapid research, transaction and consulting services that provide certainty and generate substantial revenue by improving our clients' understanding of intellectual property, intangible assets and innovations. We specialize in quantifying IP risk and value and then communicating succinctly in a business context.
Perception is the intellectal component of value. Please engage us to improve the perception of the IP assets in your portfolio today. |
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Hot IP Quality Tip: Measuring Attorney Expertise
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Did you know that patent data uniquely reveals the clients and competencies of IP law firms and attorneys?
By correlating data from the attorney/agent field in patents to the assignees and technology classes in the same documents, one can determine who employs a firm, how often the firm is engaged, and even if the firm has deep expertise in a particular subject matter area.
This can be quite insightful when determining patent quality, as one can evaluate the proficiency and experience of the draftsperson.
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