All posts by VPInstitute

Case study of patents related to captopril, Squibb’s first blockbuster

Patents, Research Examples, Research profiling

Arterial hypertension affects over one billion people around the world, making the prevention and treatment of this disease vital. Despite the efforts made to develop new antihypertensive drugs, few new therapies have become available. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have heralded major steps forward in the treatment of arterial hypertension and cardiovascular diseases since the first compound of this class, captopril, was approved for clinical use in 1981.

In this review, the authors investigated the patent documents that cite the priority patent for captopril, Squibb’s first blockbuster, or any other patent from its patent family. The documents were classified into the following: new compounds, new compositions, treatment, process (preparation of a compound), use of a compound, and process for the preparation of an intermediate. Therefore, the readers can identify potential innovations in the field.

The pharmaceutical sector has attempted to provide significant technological developments on anti-hypertensive drugs based on the patenting of captopril, including the development of new compositions further comprising an ACE inhibitor and other antihypertensive agent, along with dual action compounds, novel molecules with dual activity. The target is to find a new agent with better blood pressure-lowering efficacy, improved safety and good tolerability profile.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13543776.2016.1227321

Author(s): Adelaide Maria de Souza Antunes, Rafaela Di Sabato Guerrante, Jorge de Paula Costa Ávila, Flavia Maria Lins Mendes
Organization(s): Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)/National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI-Brazil)
Source: Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents
Year: 2016

Xylose utilization in ethanol production: a patent landscape

Patents, Research Examples, Research profiling

Bioethanol is considered as one of the best alternatives to fossil fuels as unwanted biomass is converted into fuel ethanol. As there is increasing demand for fuel ethanol, researchers have started looking for some better ways to produce ethanol. In light of the present scenario, we have attempted to develop a global patent landscape view of xylose utilization in ethanol production. Our country-specific patent analysis has revealed that most of the research on xylose-utilizing ethanol production is carried out in the USA followed by China and Sweden. Moreover, it has been found that more patent applications/grants have been claimed for processes, followed by recombinant strains. Patent publication trends for genes and enzymes have shown that most of the research is focused on the xylA gene and xylulokinase. Assignee patenting trends suggest that Du Pont is the major player in xylose-utilizing ethanol production research. Additionally, analysis based on micro-organisms used in xylose-utilizing ethanol production revealed that most of the research has been performed using Saccharomyces cerevisiae to enhance the ethanol yields.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bbb.1664/full

Author(s): Pratap Devarapalli, Nishad Deshpande, Rajkumar R Hirwani
Organization(s): CSIR-Unit for Research and Development of Information Products
Source: Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining
Year: 2016

Intangible Heritage and Gastronomy: The Impact of UNESCO Gastronomy Elements

Network analysis, Research Examples, Strategic planning

The objective of this study is two-fold: on the one hand, to determine whether literature has studied the relationship between intangible heritage and gastronomy; on the other, we have explored the use of UNESCO-recognized elements for marketing purposes. Two research questions have been addressed: (a) Is there a specific definition of gastronomy as intangible heritage? and (b) can the UNESCO-recognized elements be used for marketing purposes? We have used a method that combines content analysis and network analysis via the identification and study of keywords. The results showed a definition of gastronomy as intangible world heritage would be required. We have also observed that the use of the UNESCO-recognized elements, for marketing purposes, could be an opportunity for differentiating place’s identity.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15428052.2015.1129008

Author(s): María de Miguel Molina, Blanca de Miguel Molina, Virginia Santamarina Campos, María del Val Segarra Oña
Organization: Universitat Politecnica de Valencia
Source: Journal of Culinary Science & Technology
Year: 2016

A methodology for technology trend monitoring: the case of semantic technologies

Future-oriented technology analysis, Research Examples

This paper introduces a systematic technology trend monitoring (TTM) methodology based on an analysis of bibliometric data. Among the key premises for developing a methodology are: (1) the increasing number of data sources addressing different phases of the STI development, and thus requiring a more holistic and integrated analysis; (2) the need for more customized clustering approaches particularly for the purpose of identifying trends; and (3) augmenting the policy impact of trends through gathering future-oriented intelligence on emerging developments and potential disruptive changes. Thus, the TTM methodology developed combines and jointly analyzes different datasets to gain intelligence to cover different phases of the technological evolution starting from the ‘emergence’ of a technology towards ‘supporting’ and ‘solution’ applications and more ‘practical’ business and market-oriented uses. Furthermore, the study presents a new algorithm for data clustering in order to overcome the weaknesses of readily available clusterization tools for the purpose of identifying technology trends. The present study places the TTM activities into a wider policy context to make use of the outcomes for the purpose of Science, Technology and Innovation policy formulation, and R&D strategy making processes. The methodology developed is demonstrated in the domain of “semantic technologies”.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-016-2024-0

Author(s): Oleg Ena, Nadezhda Mikova, Ozcan Saritas, Anna Sokolova
Organization(s): National Research University Higher School of Economics
Source: Scientometrics
Year: 2016

Inequalities in scholarly knowledge: Public value failures and their impact on global science

Network analysis, Research Examples

There is a growing body of literature that acknowledges the overall trends in publication patterns in the least economically advantaged countries. The pattern shows that there are disparities between the Global North and Global South with regard to indexed publication output. Few studies, however, empirically assess the impact that this systematic disparity has on global scientific knowledge. This paper examines this systematic disparity by (1) analysing the co-authorship patterns of the least economically advantaged countries using bibliometric analysis of the Web of Science ISI database, and (2) applying the public-value failure mapping tool to identify potential failures in the scientific scholarship. Our analysis provides strong evidence of public value failures in global scholarly publication output. The paper contributes to the science policy and public value failure literatures using novel theoretical and methodological approaches to explore issues of equity and inequality in global science.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/20421338.2016.1147204

Author(s): Thema Monroe-White and Thomas S. Woodson
Organization(s): Stony Brook University
Source: African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development
Year: 2016

Early social science research about Big Data

Research Examples, ST&I policy

Recent emerging technology policies seek to diminish negative impacts while equitably and responsibly accruing and distributing benefits. Social scientists play a role in these policies, but relatively little quantitative research has been undertaken to study how social scientists inform the assessment of emerging technologies. This paper addresses this gap by examining social science research on ‘Big Data’, an emerging technology of wide interest. This paper analyzes a dataset of fields extracted from 488 social science and humanities papers written about Big Data. Our focus is on understanding the multi-dimensional nature of societal assessment by examining the references upon which these papers draw. We find that eight sub-literatures are important in framing social science research about Big Data. These results indicate that the field is evolving from general sociological considerations toward applications issues and privacy concerns. Implications for science policy and technology assessment of societal implications are discussed.

http://spp.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/06/23/scipol.scw021.abstract

Author(s): Jan Youtie, Alan L. Porter and Ying Huang
Organization(s): Georgia Institute of Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology
Source: Science and Public Policy
Year: 2016

Leveraging patent landscape analysis and IP competitive intelligence for competitive advantage

CTI, Patents, Research Examples, Research Type

Patent landscape and the accompanying IP competitive intelligence involves understanding and anticipating the competitive environment within which a company operates. More specifically, IP competitive intelligence highlights emerging IP risks, provides patent portfolio benchmarking, monitors competitor technology development efforts, and predicts commercialization of technology.

This paper provides a framework for patent landscape and IP competitive intelligence as driven by strategic intent. This paper advocates the benefits of both “quantitative” statistical analysis and “qualitative” human intelligence for IP competitive intelligence. Moreover, this paper defines four Levels of IP analysis with pruned examples for effective competitive intelligence.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0172219016000193

Author: Yateen R. Pargaonkar
Organization: Chevron Energy Technology Company
Source: World Patent Information
Year: 2016

How Does National Scientific Funding Support Emerging Interdisciplinary Research: A Comparison Study of Big Data Research in the US and China

Data Type, Funding, Interdisciplinarity, Research Examples, Research Type

How do funding agencies ramp-up their capabilities to support research in a rapidly emerging area? This paper addresses this question through a comparison of research proposals awarded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) in the field of Big Data. Big data is characterized by its size and difficulties in capturing, curating, managing and processing it in reasonable periods of time. Although Big Data has its legacy in longstanding information technology research, the field grew very rapidly over a short period. We find that the extent of interdisciplinarity is a key aspect in how these funding agencies address the rise of Big Data. Our results show that both agencies have been able to marshal funding to support Big Data research in multiple areas, but the NSF relies to a greater extent on multi-program funding from different fields. We discuss how these interdisciplinary approaches reflect the research hot-spots and innovation pathways in these two countries.

FULL-TEXT at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154509

Author(s): Ying Huang, Yi Zhang, Jan Youtie, Alan L. Porter, Xuefeng Wang
Organization(s): Beijing Institute of Technology; Georgia Institute of Technology
Source: PLoS ONE
Year: 2016

A scientometric comparative study of single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes research

Research Examples, Research profiling, Research Type

In the present study, we aim to quantitatively investigate and compare the intellectual landscapes of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) research between 2000 and 2014. The overall intellectual structure of these fields is illustrated by emerging trends of bursting keywords and thematic concentrations of co-cited references. This study is based on two sets of bibliographic records retrieved from the Web of Science database. The SWCNTs dataset contains 18,700 original research and review articles. The MWCNTs dataset, consisting of 23,584 records, is also collected from the database. We find that both domains have scrutinized chemical concepts which underlie the properties of the materials. Recent thematic trends show that MWCNTs research focuses on the improvement of the material while SWCNTs research lays more emphasis on their applications. In conclusion, it is argued that SWCNTs and MWCNTs have co-evolved. At the same time, both fields are distinctively diverging with their own scientific concerns.

http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2857163

Author(s): Geet Lahoti, Meen Chul Kim, Jan Youtie, Alan L Porter, Chuck Zhang, Ben Wang, and Diana Hicks
Organization(s): Georgia Institute of Technology
Source: Proceedings of the 78th ASIS&T Annual Meeting: Information Science with Impact: Research in and for the Community
Year: 2015

Identifying target for technology mergers and acquisitions using patent information and semantic analysis

Data Type, Patents, Research Examples, Strategic planning

Technology plays an increasingly important role in today’s enterprise competition. Technology mergers and acquisitions (Tech M&A), as an effective way to acquire external technology resources rapidly, have attracted attention from researchers because of their potential realization of value through synergy. A big challenge that faces corporate managers and government policy makers is how to identify the appropriate target to support effective technology integration. In this study, we develop a model of target selection of Tech M&A from the perspective of technology relatedness and R&D capability. We present the results relating to M&A in the field of cloud computing in China.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=7273128

Author(s): Lu Huang, Lining Shang, Kangrui Wang, Alan L Porter, and Yi Zhang
Organization(s): Beijing Institute of Technology
Source: 2015 Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology
Year: 2015