PATENT BASED INDICATORS OF CORPORATE TECHNOLOGICAL STRENGTH

QUANTITATIVE INDICATORS OF COMPANY TECHNOLOGICAL STRENGTH WOULD BE OF ENORMOUS VALUE TO THE CORPORATE AND FINANCIAL COMMUNITIES FOR COMPETITOR ASSESSMENTS, FOR MERGER/ACQUISITION ANALYSIS, AND IN THE GENERAL AREA OF CORPORATE TECHNOLOGICAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT. TODAY SUCH INDICATORS ARE ALMOST NONEXISTENT. THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY PROVIDES A UNIQUE ARENA FOR EVALUATING VARIOUS ASPECTS OF CORPORATE TECHNOLOGICAL STRENGTH. UNLIKE MANY INDUSTRIES, THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN DISSEMINATING RESEARCH FINDINGS OF RELEVANCE TO PHARMACEUTICALS. ADDITIONALLY, THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY RELIES HEAVILY ON PATENT PROTECTION TO SAFEGUARD ITS FINANCIAL INVESTMENT IN RESEARCH AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT. THERE ARE ALSO TWO DIRECT MEASURES OF PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY PERFORMANCE--THE NUMBER OF NEW AGENTS APPROVED BY THE FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND COMPANY R&D BUDGETS. FINALLY PEER JUDGEMENTS OF CORPORATE RESEARCH PERFORMANCE FOR PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM A PREVIOUS STUDY. PHASE I WILL FORMULATE A SERIES OF PATENT-BASED INDICATORS OF CORPORATE TECHNOLOGICAL STRENGTH USING DATA FROM U.S. PATENTS AND U.S. PATENT CITATIONS. THESE INDICATORS WILL BE GENERATED FOR 19 U.S. BASED PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES. THE PRIMARY RESEARCH IN PHASE I WILL BE TO EXAMINE THE EXTENT OF CORRELATION BETWEEN PEER JUDGEMENTS OF RESEARCH PERFORMANCE AND THE VARIOUS PATENT-BASED INDICATORS. SUPPLEMENTARILY, THE CORRELATIONS AMONG THE PATENT-BASED INDICATORS, THE TWO DIRECT MEASURES, AND THE SCIENCE ACTIVITY INDICATORS WILL BE STUDIED.