Trends in the intellectual property (IP) landscape of drug delivery systems

One of the most critical drivers of innovation in the drug delivery field is commercialization potential, which is facilitated by intellectual property (IP) protection primarily in the form of patents. This chapter provides a detailed overview of the evolution of the global IP landscape around drug delivery over the past 30 years, paying particular attention to the three most widely used drug delivery systems: oral, topical, and parenteral. Emerging areas of IP growth including targeted, nanoscale, and immunoconjugate drug delivery systems are highlighted, as is the importance and core requirements of a program to proactively monitor the dynamic IP landscape.