At least eight international patents have been registered using the Pheroid® technology. The Pheroid® intellectual property is owned by the North West University in South Africa, and has already been licensed in narrowly defined applications to market participants.
It is the intention that the intellectual property will continue to be managed in this manner, with cluster participants making separate arrangements with the IP holders (i.e. independently of any arrangements that they may have with the cluster management organization).
A conscious decision was taken not to patent the Pheroid® technology itself but rather to patent applications. Most of the participants are not active, as far as their current plans with Pheroid® go, in original drug discovery and other early-stage research and development activities. They view Pheroid® as an adjuvant or excipient that will enhance the features of existing active ingredients, and therefore concentrate their Pheroid®-related activities on near-to-market opportunities.