Abstract: OBJECTIVE To explore the status of patent applications and research and development trends in immunosuppressants.METHODS Using the method of bibliometrics, the patent application in terms of legal status, time, region, applicant and technical hotspotby retrieving the relevant patent literatures from the patent database were analyzed.RESULTS & CONCLUSION The number of patents regards to domestic immunosuppressants had been increasing year by year since 2005. By August 2017 the proportion of effective patents reached to 27.95%. Most of the global patents were concentrated in Japan, Australia, Canada and other developed countries, domestic patent applications were also lacking in foreign enterprises; there was a significant gap between domestic pharmaceutical companies and the United States and Japan or other developed countries in the quantities of patent applications as well as R&D competence. At present, immunosuppressants patented technology focuses mainly on heterocyclic compounds and peptides, and immunoglobulin drugs. Perhaps domestic pharmaceutical companies could consider the opportunity to collaborate with them in Industry-University-Research, and take account of invalid patents which could have the potential to be reused. In this way, they could improve their research ability and acquire further outcome.