Biotech companies are changing how they protect innovations as global competition forces them to hide projects longer and misdirect rivals.
Growing global competition is forcing biotechnology companies to rethink their intellectual property protection strategies. A report by Fierce Biotech says that strong patents alone are no longer enough to maintain an advantage.
For biotech companies, intellectual property remains their most valuable asset. However, in an era of rising global competition, developers must not only expand patent protection but also keep projects secret for longer periods and, in some cases, deliberately misdirect competitors.
China is becoming an increasingly important factor in this competition. According to the Asia Society — a global organization dedicated to understanding Asia’s role in the world,— Chinese biotech companies recruit patients for clinical trials two to three times faster than their U.S. counterparts, while regulatory reforms have reduced clinical trial approval timelines from 60 days to 30 days. GlobalData analysts also note that clinical trials in China are about 50–60% cheaper than in the United States.
These conditions create advantages for so-called “fast followers” — companies that closely monitor scientific breakthroughs made by others and aim to bring their own similar products to market as quickly as possible.
One example is U.S.-based Pheast Therapeutics, which is developing innovative cancer treatments targeting the CD24 protein. While Pheast was preparing its drug for clinical trials, China’s Antengene moved ahead by starting trials of a similar drug candidate in 2023.
U.S. biotech companies are increasingly seeking to build the broadest possible patent protection around their discoveries from the earliest stages. This involves not only protecting a specific drug candidate but also securing rights to the underlying technology and possible future applications. Such an approach can limit competitors’ ability to develop similar solutions and help the original developer maintain a market advantage.
Patent lawyer Dean Farmer, who advises biotech companies on intellectual property strategy, says many companies mistakenly believe they are operating in “stealth mode” while actually revealing numerous indirect signals. Clues for competitors can come from scientific conference presentations, executive statements, entries in government clinical trial databases, and even hiring announcements.
“A lot of companies think they’re in stealth when they’re not,” Farmer said. “When I worked for a fund, part of our R&D strategy was to monitor competitors and begin filing early patents based on signals — even without knowing the exact chemistry.”
One unconventional tactic is to submit an inexpensive patent application for a project the company does not plan to pursue. Such a “false target” can distract competitors and direct their resources toward a less promising area.
As competition in biotechnology intensifies, protecting innovation is becoming not only a matter of securing strong patents but also of managing an entire public communications strategy. Companies are moving to establish rights to promising technologies earlier, expand patent coverage, and carefully control public signals to prevent competitors from using their scientific advances before their own products reach the market.
Source: Fierce Biotech
