Who are the leading innovators in pancreatic cell transplantation for the pharmaceutical industry?

According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 668,000 patents to analyze innovation intensity for the pharmaceutical industry, there are 80+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.

Pancreatic cell transplantation is a key innovation area in cell & gene therapy

Pancreatic cell transplantation is a medical procedure in which cells from the pancreas of a donor are transplanted into the pancreas of a recipient. The procedure’s goal is to replace damaged or nonfunctioning pancreatic cells in individuals with diabetes so that they can produce insulin and regulate their blood sugar levels more effectively.

GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 100+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established pharmaceutical companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of pancreatic cell transplantation.

Key players in pancreatic cell transplantation – a disruptive innovation in the pharmaceutical industry

‘Application diversity’ measures the number of applications identified for each patent. It broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.   

‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of countries each patent is registered in. It reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.  

Patent volumes related to pancreatic cell transplantation

ViaCyte, formerly Novocell, is one of the leading patent filers in pancreatic cell transplantation. It is a regenerative medicine company developing novel cell replacement therapies for the treatment of diabetes to achieve glucose control targets and reduce the risk of hypoglycemia and diabetes-related complications. Its pipeline product candidates include PEC-Direct (VC-02), which delivers stem cell-derived PEC-01 pancreatic progenitor cells in a non-immunoprotective device to allow direct vascularization of the cells for treating type 1 diabetes patients, and PEC-Encap (VC-01), which delivers stem cell-derived pancreatic progenitor cells in the Encaptra immunoprotective device for all insulin-requiring diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2 patients. Johnson & Johnson and Astellas Pharma are some of the other key patent filers in pancreatic cell transplantation.

In terms of application diversity, Allele Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals leads the pack, while Geron and United Therapeutics stood in second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, ViaCyte held the top position, followed by United Therapeutics and Accelerated Biosciences.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the pharmaceutical industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Pharmaceutical.

GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.

GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.