In the field of regenerative medicine, stem cell therapeutic development has emerged as a key technological area. Since the establishment and characterization of human embryonic stem cell lines by James Thomson in 1998, stem cell research has expanded rapidly, accelerating industrialization through the strategic protection of intellectual property (IP) rights. As technological specialization and clinical trial expansion have progressed—particularly since 2015—the feasibility of commercialization has increased. However, IP analyses in the stem cell field have largely been limited to fragmented patent trend studies. This study analyzed the characteristics and limitations of stem cell–based IP and examined the correlations among scientific publications, patent activity, and clinical trials by stem cell type from 2000 to 2020. The findings revealed significant differences among stem cell categories. In particular, adult stem cells (ASCs) demonstrated strong positive correlations between patent filings and SCI-indexed publications (R2=0.947), as well as between patent activity and clinical trials (R2=0.945), suggesting a high level of technological maturity and translational potential. In contrast, embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells showed relatively weaker correlations. The results indicate that ASC–based IP is closely associated with clinical development and commercialization potential. This study provides strategic insights into the potential for proactive commercialization based on the importance of patents in the stem cell therapeutic industry.
Kim et al. (Sun,) studied this question.