Prospection of technological trends in immunotherapy in the area of gene therapy

Abstract

The accelerated transformation the scenario of advanced therapies has undergone in recent years reveals the level of technological growth employed in the development of new therapeutic modalities, especially those aimed at the production of new gene and cell therapies. The increasing pace of innovations in the multidisciplinary areas involved in the creation of new approaches to treatment, diagnosis, genetic modification, bioproduction and clinical outcome assessment has increasingly elevated the degree of complexity of the entire biotechnological development chain. The incorporation of new technologies within the health sector allows access to and provision of more efficient and effective therapies and processes in combating the various morbidities to which the population is exposed. Therefore, it is essential that the investment of human and financial capital to be aimed in the most assertive way, seeking to maximize the intended gains with research and development initiatives, and to convert collective efforts and expenditures into concrete results for the population. The impact of the integration of new technologies in the therapeutic development process, especially in the translation of advanced therapy products for effective clinical use on an appreciable scale, reveals the importance of expanding the portfolio of instruments capable of directing efforts towards strategies with greater potential of achievement. Social network analysis (ARS) has been widely applied in innovation studies, since the main indicators used by researchers to assess R&D and innovation results can be found in patent data, such information can bring insights to efforts to promote innovation strategies and knowledge flows in the technology development process, especially in intensive growth sectors, such as the health biotechnology. Bibliometric analysis based on patent citation is an important tool to predict emerging technologies, and the study of relevant paths in citation networks can portray technological trajectories of great relevance for the incorporation of new therapies in the Brazilian health system. Our hypothesis is that the delineation of biotechnological routes in the field of immunotherapy with gene therapy products, defined through the study of patents, can offer an enormous strategic and economic gain in the local scenario. The objective of this proposal for change is to redirect the scope of the initial research for the prospection of technological routes used in the development of advanced therapies, in particular: gene therapies applied to immunotherapy with CAR cells, in order to identify scientific and collaborative strategies with better technical and financial investment potential for the development of national products or facilitate access to these new platforms through the establishment of partnerships with key agents, from the public and private sector, national or international. (AU)