Comparative analysis and quali-quantitative synthesis between clinical trials and patents about leprosy: recommendations for public policies

The work presents the comparative analysis between clinical trials and patent families about leprosy worldwide in the last 20 years. Three technological aspects were defined for the study of both portfolios, thus defined: diagnosis, drug/treatment and vaccine. Seventy-one clinical trials (11 for diagnosis, 54 for drug and 6 for vaccine) and 3323 patent families (790 for diagnosis, 1515 for drug and 1018 for vaccine) were identified, both distributed in 58 institutions and 21 countries. In summary, it is suggested that new public policies should be created to encourage synergy between clinical trials and patents in order to induce a safe path to technological independence.