New COVID-19 Research: Universities and Research Organizations Highly Active in Vaccine Patenting During Pandemic’s Early Days; China, U.S.-based Applicants Lead in Vaccine and Therapeutics Innovation

Geneva,

March 10, 2022

PR/2022/887

Universities and research organizations filed nearly as many patent applications as corporations for COVID-19 vaccines during the early months of the global pandemic, with China and U.S.-based innovators most actively patenting new anti-COVID19 vaccine and therapeutic technologies, according to a WIPO report on pandemic-era innovation trends[1] released today.

The “Patent Landscape Report: COVID-19 Related Vaccines and Therapeutics” also found that the greatest number of COVID-19 patent filings were related to conventional vaccine technologies and repurposed drugs, followed by more-novel vaccine technologies like mRNA. The report is part of WIPO’s package of pandemic support measures and is the first publication of its kind to identify and analyze COVID-19 related patenting activity.

This report underscores that the pandemic triggered an unprecedented mobilization of the global scientific community and it shines a light on the complementary and reinforcing roles played by companies, startups, universities and research institutions in the development of COVID-related treatments.

“This report underlines that collaboration – across organizations, agencies, sectors and borders – is essential if we are to make meaningful progress in addressing the global challenges that we face,” said Mr. Tang, who was joined at an event launching the report by World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and World Trade Organization Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Among the report’s key findings

[1]The report is based on patent filing data from January 2020 to September 2021 based on publicly available information as of end of September 2021. It takes on average 18 months for a patent application to be published.

About WIPO

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the global forum for intellectual property policy, services, information and cooperation. A specialized agency of the United Nations, WIPO assists its 193 member states in developing a balanced international IP legal framework to meet society’s evolving needs. It provides business services for obtaining IP rights in multiple countries and resolving disputes. It delivers capacity-building programs to help developing countries benefit from using IP. And it provides free access to unique knowledge banks of IP information.

For more information, please contact the News and Media Division at WIPO: