Conotoxin Patenting Trends in Academia and Industry

Sea snails of the genus Conus produce toxins that have been the subjects of numerous studies, projects, publications, and patents over the years. Since Conus toxins were discovered in the 1960s, their biological activity has been thought to have high pharmaceutical potential that could be explored beyond the limits of academic laboratories. We reviewed 224 patent documents related to conotoxins and conopeptides globally to determine the course that innovation and development has taken over the years, their primary applications, the technological trends over the last six years, and the leaders in the field, since the only previous patent review was performed in 2015 and focused in USA valid patents. In addition, we explored which countries/territories protect their inventions and patents and the most relevant collaborations among assignees. We also evaluated whether academia or pharmaceutical companies are the future of conotoxin research. We concluded that the 224 conotoxin patents reviewed in this study have more academic value than industrial value, which was noted by the number of active patents that have not yet been licensed and the contributions to medical research, especially as tools to study neuropathic pain, inflammation, immunology, drug design, receptor binding sites, cancer, neurotransmission, epilepsy, peptide biosynthesis, and depression. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the current state of conotoxin patents, their main applications, and success based on the number of licensing and products in the market.