Enabling Policy Planning and Innovation Management through Patent Information and Co-Authorship Network Analyses: A Study of Tuberculosis in Brazil

Abstract

IntroductionNew tools and approaches are necessary to facilitate public policy planning and foster the management of innovation in countries' public health systems. To this end, an understanding of the integrated way in which the various actors who produce scientific knowledge and inventions in technological areas of interest operate, where they are located and how they relate to one another is of great relevance. Tuberculosis has been chosen as a model for the present study as it is a current challenge for Brazilian research and innovation.MethodologyPublications about tuberculosis written by Brazilian authors were accessed from international databases, analyzed, processed with text searching tools and networks of coauthors were constructed and visualized. Patent applications about tuberculosis in Brazil were retrieved from the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) and the European Patent Office databases, through the use of International Patent Classification and keywords and then categorized and analyzed.Results/ConclusionsBrazilian authorship of articles about tuberculosis jumped from 1% in 1995 to 5% in 2010. Article production and patent filings of national origin have been concentrated in public universities and research institutions while the participation of private industry in the filing of Brazilian patents has remained limited. The goals of national patenting efforts have still not been reached, as up to the present none of the applications filed have been granted a patent. The analysis of all this data about TB publishing and patents clearly demonstrates the importance of maintaining the continuity of Brazil's production development policies as well as government support for infrastructure projects to be employed in transforming the potential of research. This policy, which already exists for the promotion of new products and processes that, in addition to bringing diverse economic benefits to the country, will also contribute to effective dealing with public health problems affecting Brazil and the World.

Evolution of coauthorship networks: worldwide scientific production on leishmaniasis

“…The preeminence of these groups and the presence of numerous Brazilian investigators in the identifi ed research groups stems from the fact that leishmaniasis is an important public health problem in Brazil, where incidence of the disease in all of its forms is higher than in the remainder of the continent. Thus, Brazil is developing its research potential in the fi eld, making leishmaniasis-as well as other neglected diseases -a priority on the national health research agenda [21][22][23] .…”

“…Attention has also been drawn to the importance of developing initiatives that attract private interests, particularly pharmaceutical companies, as the lack of commercial interest from this sector constitutes one of the main barriers to the development of drugs to treat neglected diseases 23,26 . In this respect, the formation of multidisciplinary research networks and the establishment of collaborative alliances between the public sector and industry should be fostered 26 .…”

Mobilização para um Programa de Pesquisa Translacional em Leishmanioses: uma Solução para Saúde Pública.

“…A ocorrência de relações interdisciplinares como contexto presente a tais processos possuem caráter de entrelaçamento, onde áreas de conhecimento demandam soluções que se servem, exigem ou dependem de outras áreas de conhecimento (7). Sob esse aspecto, novas ferramentas e abordagens são necessárias para facilitar o planejamento de políticas para promover a gestão da inovação nos sistemas de saúde pública dos países (8).…”

Enhancing Knowledge Flow in a Health Care Context: A Mobile Computing Approach

“…A social network may have a few or many members (ie, nodes) and 1 or more types of relationships (ie, edges) between the members [8]. By analyzing and understanding how and when people interact with one another, we can determine the propagation of diseases [9-14], how science is developed [15], and how it could be improved through appropriate alliances [16]. The analysis of social networks can help disseminate information, determine the quality of a piece of information, and enable collaborative filtering.…”