Coronavirus COVID-19 Datasets
The Lens has assembled free and open datasets of patent documents, scholarly research works metadata and biological sequences from patents, and deposited them in a machine-readable and explorable form.
Human Coronaviruses Data Initiative
The Lens is building an interactive tool for understanding the landscape of patent and research works in any domain, including human coronaviruses and COVID-19.
The full ‘Report Builder’ functionality will not be in production for several weeks. Considering the urgency of the crisis and the need to develop improved practices and products for diagnosis, therapeutics, medical devices and tools for protection and treatment, vaccines and other interventions, The Lens is sharing all the draft collections and datasets created for this landscape immediately.
Surface and Repurpose
Patents are typically first published 18 months after filing, so patents specifically targeted to this new COVID-19 agent may not appear until June of 2021. However, the virus and disease are related to the SARS and MERS viral outbreaks of the last two decades so there is a wealth of knowledge to mine - to 'Surface and Repurpose' - that can help in the fight against COVID-19.
Surfacing technologies and methods of making things within the patent literature where the patent is no longer protected in many parts of the world, the patents have expired, or the technologies exist with rights; is essential and must be openly accessible for re-use and repurposing in the fight against COVID-19. Discovering and forging new partnerships that can bring unique capabilities to the fight is critical, as is targeting investments at the highest impact pathways and trajectories. All of this requires open, reliable evidence.
To inform any move towards common action, we need open data and shared, evidence-driven analysis. We hope these datasets and analytic tools help.
Will we need a COVID-19 Commons?
To develop fast effective solutions, we may need sharing of patented technologies or particular in-house capabilities in a COVID-19 Commons, voluntarily, incentivized or mandated.
In other times of national or global crisis, such pools or license commons have been developed to accelerate solutions and share the benefits widely. In 1917, one year before the Spanish Influenza pandemic, the US government in the throes of World War One, forced the formation of a licensing commons to break the patent logjam that was halting progress on military aircraft (e.g. Manufacturers Aircraft Association). The HIV/AIDS crisis was also critical for stimulating improvements in the TRIPS Agreement to clarify compulsory licensing for public health emergencies.
Will the COVID-19 crisis require such interventions?
Analyze linkages between academic research and inventions
You can also explore the citation networks of Coronavirus related scholarly works cited in patents and their citing patent families using PatCite.
Collections Disclaimer
While most of these collections were based on search queries (description is included for each collection), some manual editing and refining was also used to eliminate clearly irrelevant documents. It is important to keep in mind that these are draft collections and we will continue to refine and update them with each new data release. If you have any specific question, or if you have advanced domain knowledge and would like to help, please email support@lens.org or osmat.jefferson@lens.org
Attribution
The Lens provides the data as-is, and under terms requiring only attribution. For any additional information, please see the Lens data terms of use.
Suggested CitationHuman Coronavirus Innovation Landscape: Patent and Research Works Open Datasets. Accessed [date] at https://about.lens.org/covid-19 .
Other COVID-19 Resources
Collective action
- Follow World Health Organization advice, end secrecy in decision-making and cooperate globally
- UN calls for solidarity in this human crisis
- COVID-19: towards controlling of a pandemic
- International Health Regulations and Emergency Committees
- OECD - Tackling the coronavirus (COVID-19) Contributing to a global effort
- The IMF and COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
- The pandemic pipeline
- The COVID-19 vaccine development landscape
General information about the virus and the pandemic
- World Health Organisation
- Latest public health information from the US Centre for Disease Control
- Latest public health information from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention
- Australian Department of Health COVID-19 information
- Map of global recorded COVID-19 cases at Johns Hopkins University
- Global COVID-19 cases at Worldometer
- COVID-19 Wikipedia page
- Clinical guidance for management of patients with SARS-COV-2
- Information on disinfectants and water treatment
- Royal Pharmaceutical Society - Coronavirus (COVID-19) pharmacist updates and information
- The Race To Stop COVID-19
Viral genomic studies
Open research data
- Updated Coronavirus research from NIH
- COVID-19 Open Research Dataset (CORD-19)
- CiteSpace network analysis of coronavirus-related scholarly works patents
- Global response from the International Association of STM Publishers
- Coronavirus clinical trials
- COVID-19 Registered Trials – and analysis
- covidlens R dataset package
Open Resources
- Open source ventilators
- CDC - Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of N95 Respirators
- US FDA - N95 Respirators and Surgical Masks (Face Masks)
- Free sewing facemasks
- DIY facemasks
- Open COVID Pledge: Removing Obstacles to Sharing IP in the Fight Against COVID-19
Global response from Industry and Philanthropies
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation initiatives
- The Rockefeller Foundation Commits $50 million in COVID-19 Assistance to Strengthen Global Pandemic Preparedness and Support Vulnerable Communities
- Novartis initiatives
- Bloomberg initiatives
- Chan Zuckerberg initiative providing tests in developing countries
- World Bank Group initiative to sustain economies and protect jobs
Acknowledgments
Twenty years ago, The Rockefeller Foundation funded Cambia to create the predecessor to The Lens, Patent Lens. We’re pleased that Rockefeller is again working with Cambia and The Lens to advance an open, inclusive and transparent innovation system. We’re honored to acknowledge the support of The Rockefeller Foundation once again as The Lens scales for impact.
