Research and development of anti-Alzheimer's disease drugs: an update from the perspective of technology flows.

INTRODUCTION: Today, over 20 million people suffer from Alzheimer's disease (AD) worldwide. AD has become a critical issue to human health, especially in aging societies, and therefore it is a research hotspot in the global scientific community. The technology flow method differs from traditional reviews generating an informative overview of the research and development (R&D) landscape in a specific technological area. We need such an updated method to get a general overview of the R&D of anti-AD drugs in light of the dramatic developments in this area in recent years. AREAS COVERED: This study collects patent data from the Integrity database. A total of 399 patents with 821 internal citation pairs in the US from 1978 to 2017 were analyzed. Patent citation network analysis was used to visualize the technology relationship. EXPERT OPINION: For better production of anti-AD drugs, governments should emphasize the multi-target drug design, provide policy support for private companies, and encourage multilateral cooperation. The β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) theory leaves much to be desired; neurotransmitter and tau protein hypotheses are worth further examination. The use of old drugs for new indications is promising, as are traditional herbal medicines.