title: Analysis of trends and opportunities of anti-allergy patents in China from 1998 to 2008.
abstract: The prevalence of allergic diseases has increased dramatically in recent decades. Holding patents is one of the means to protect good anti-allergy products. However, little is known of anti-allergy patent situation in China. The paper summarized and analyzed anti-allergy patents issued in China from January 1988 to September 2008. A total of 789 anti-allergy patents have been granted in China during the 20 years. China, European countries, USA, Japan and other countries possesses 44%, 21%, 19%, 12% and 4% of all of these anti-allergy patents respectively. Interestingly, 88% anti-allergy patents issued to Chinese are held by civilians, whereas vast majority of the patents issued to foreigners were held by pharmaceutical companies. All anti-allergy patents are focused on synthetic compounds, Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM),combinations of synthetic compounds and TCM (CST), biological products and medical apparatus. The anti-allergy patents in China mainly focus on well-known targets, such as histamine receptor and leukotrienes, which consist of 93% of patents for validated targets. Approximately 93% targeting diseases are bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis. Our analyzing results indicate that there are great opportunities for application of patents on development of novel anti-allergic compounds and modernization of TCM in China.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiaoning
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Jifu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shaoheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018926:Anti-Allergic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology; D015289:Leukotrienes / Q000378:metabolism; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000379:methods; D010330:Patents as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011968:Receptors, Histamine / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018926:Anti-Allergic Agents; D015289:Leukotrienes; D011968:Receptors, Histamine