Nanodrug has become one of the important emerging research frontiers in nanobiology and nanomedicine in the 21st century, and triggered an upsurge of investment from the United States, Japan, EU, and other countries. The current research status and the trends of nanodrug are analyzed and revealed by using bibliometrical method and scientific visualization tools.

In order to show the development status of nanodrug technology, the analysis of patent literature during 1980-2011 (data from Derwent Innovations Index of ISI WoK) is carried out by using analysis tools TDA and Thomson Innovation. The status of research and development of nanodrug in the 30 years, hot spots, as well as the technical distribution pattern were revealed. The study found that the number of related patents in the field of nanodrug application showing a growth trend year by year, especially after 2000, showing a significantly accelerated trend; patents in the field are mainly concentrated in Supersonicjet Spray Drying, Drug Targeting Delivery, Copolymer Drug, Peptide, Antigen, Dendrimers, etc.