Global Patent Landscape of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Drugs.

Objective: To characterize the changing landscape of BPH drugs by investigating patent documents derived from pipeline projects. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) drugs were first approved for the mainstream market about 20 years ago. The fixed patent term warns of possibly transforming the landscape of BPH drugs as technological and commercial substitution causes the displacement of established technologies and competitors by newer ones. However, very few studies focus on patents of BPH drugs, though many literature reviews have analyzed this topic from technological and clinical perspectives.

Methods: All available patent data relevant to BPH-related drugs were collected from the Cortellis database. Descriptive statistics, bibliometric analyses, and citation analyses were used to analyze the patent landscape.

Results: By analyzing 1,936 patent families from 1967 to 2019, this study addresses the main results on the changing landscape of BPH drugs, involving associated indications, the shifting centers of innovation globally, notable formulation patents, and promising therapeutics.

Conclusion: The results provide a significant reference for decision-making by researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and investors with an interest in BPH drugs.