AAV Gene Therapy Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- 51.5% concentration. The top 5 of 34 ranked assignees hold 52 of 101 records in scope — over half the field sits with a small group of filers.
- Filings are still accelerating. Volume moved from 2 records at the 2022 midpoint to a peak of 21 in 2024, with no sign of plateau before the data cut-off.
- Immunogenicity claims dominate the periphery. Only 5.0% of records touch measuring/testing (C12Q) and 5.9% touch nucleic-acid chemistry (C07H), leaving assay and sequence-engineering claims thin relative to the core vector work.
What this patent set covers
This landscape tracks 101 published records filed against a search built around AAV and adeno-associated virus gene therapy, narrowed to documents whose title or claim-defining text touches capsid tropism, pre-existing neutralizing antibody, immunogenicity, durability of expression or dose-limiting toxicity — the technical pressure points that separate a lab-stage AAV vector from one that survives a dosing regimen in patients. Coverage runs from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off, with IPC classification restricted to C12N15, A61K48 and C12N7 to keep the set anchored on genetic engineering and in vivo delivery rather than general virology.
Because publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent year in the trend is understated by construction — 2026's count of 3 is a floor, not a ceiling. Patent families, not raw document counts, are the fairer unit for judging how much of the field a single applicant actually occupies, since families neutralise continuation practice and multi-jurisdiction refiling.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 101 records: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim activity.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings sat near zero through 2017 and stayed low into the 2022 midpoint (2 records), then climbed sharply to a peak of 21 in 2024. The 2026 figure of 3 is partial, reflecting publication lag rather than a slowdown.
IPC subclass composition
C12N (microorganisms & genetic engineering) appears in 92.1% of records and A61K (medicinal preparations) in 77.2%, confirming this is a vector-and-formulation-heavy set. Downstream measurement and testing (C12Q, 5.0%) and nucleic-acid chemistry (C07H, 5.9%) are comparatively thin, since a record can carry multiple classes these shares sum above 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 101 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on AAV Gene Therapy for Rare Disease with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about aav gene therapy for rare disease and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative record: modulating the immune response to AAV vectors
Modulation, monitoring and prediction of the immune response directed against AAV gene therapy vectors
The present invention relates to the modulation, the monitoring and the prediction of the immune response directed against AAV gene therapy vectors. In particular, the present inventors have identified novel markers of immune system activation in response to rAAV vectors that can be used for inhibiting, monitoring and predicting said immune response to AAV vectors.Filed as WO2020079256A1. The claim scope centres on immune-marker identification and monitoring rather than capsid engineering, positioning it alongside the field's immunogenicity-management cluster rather than its vector-design cluster.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WO1993024640A2 | Methods and compositions for in VIVO gene therapy | 1,062 |
| 2 | WO1993025673A1 | In VIVO gene therapy with intron-free sequence of interest | 692 |
| 3 | US5827703A | Methods and composition for in vivo gene therapy | 267 |
| 4 | WO2015060722A1 | AAV-5 pseudotyped vector for gene therapy for neurological diseases | 102 |
| 5 | US6627615B1 | Methods and compositions for in vivo gene therapy | 81 |
| 6 | US20160243260A1 | Treatment of neurological diseases using adeno-associated virus (AAV) comprising AAV-5 capsid proteins | 36 |
| 7 | US20200297869A1 | Sequential intravitreal administration of AAV gene therapy to contralateral eyes | 11 |
| 8 | WO2020180951A1 | Sequential intravitreal administration of AAV gene therapy to contralateral eyes | 11 |
| 9 | US20030109475A1 | Methods and compositions for in vivo gene therapy | 11 |
| 10 | WO2021072115A1 | Crispr-mediated human genome editing with vectors | 5 |
Citation counts favour older, foundational filings inside this searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence on the field, not of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers say about this field
Four patterns worth acting on before drafting or freedom-to-operate work in this space.
The field is top-heavy but not closed
The leader holds 14 records and fifth place holds 8 — a steep drop-off that still leaves 34 distinct assignees on the ranking. That is concentration at the top with a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants below it, not a two-player market.
Filing is accelerating, not maturing
Volume more than tenfolded between the 2022 midpoint and the 2024 peak. High density in this window signals occupied claim space, not a technology past its growth phase — new entrants are still filing into it.
French research institutes anchor a filing cluster
The strongest co-assignee pairs each recur at a count of 4, linking a national health research institute, a national science research centre and a university — a pattern consistent with academic consortium filing rather than corporate joint ventures.
Assay and monitoring claims are comparatively rare
With C12N and A61K covering the large majority of records, the thinner classes — C12Q for testing, C07H for nucleic-acid chemistry, A01K for animal models — mark areas where the vector-and-therapy core has not yet been matched by supporting-method claims.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to aav gene therapy for rare disease, with the prior art for and against each one.
Assignee landscape and where activity is shifting
The ranking covers 34 companies and institutions across the full 101-record set — not a curated top-50 or top-100, but the complete list the data returns.
A single filer sets the pace
The top-ranked assignee holds 14 of 101 records, roughly double the fifth-place count of 8 — a gap wide enough to matter for freedom-to-operate screening but not wide enough to call the field settled.
Recent-year activity is thinning among earlier leaders
Several assignees that appear high in the overall ranking show zero filings in the latest year, some down 100% year-on-year, while at least one shows continuing activity into the latest year. That divergence is worth checking before assuming past filing volume predicts current freedom-to-operate risk.
Consortium filing is concentrated in one geography
The strongest co-assignee links all involve the same set of French research institutions filing jointly, rather than industry sponsors. That pattern points to publicly funded platform development rather than a single commercial pipeline.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Kate Therapeutics Inc. | 1 | — |
| Ensoma Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| AAVogen Inc. | 0 | — |
| The Regents of the University of California | 0 | -100% |
| UNIQURE IP BV | 0 | — |
| Adverum Biotechnologies Inc. | 0 | — |
| The Curators of the University of Missouri | 0 | — |
| Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific follow-up questions depending on whether you are drafting, screening or scouting.
Screen the immunogenicity cluster before filing
With pre-existing neutralizing antibody and immunogenicity claims woven through most of the top-5 portfolios, a new filing on immune-response modulation should be checked against that cluster first.
Run a freedom-to-operate checkWatch the momentum shift among former leaders
Several previously active assignees show no filings in the latest year. Confirm whether that reflects a strategic pause, a licensing move, or simply publication lag before treating their portfolios as static.
Track assignee activityDraft into the thinner IPC branches
C12Q measurement claims and C07H nucleic-acid chemistry sit well below the C12N and A61K core in filing share, which is where narrower, more defensible claims are still available.
Explore white space with EurekaCommon questions about this patent landscape
Across the 101 records in this dataset, filing is concentrated but not dominated by a single company: the top-ranked assignee holds 14 records, and the top 5 of 34 ranked assignees together hold 52 records, or 51.5% of the total. That leaves roughly half the field spread across a long tail of institutions and companies with fewer filings each. Anyone doing competitive scouting should look past the single leader to the top-10 group, which together account for 76.2% of all records.
The trend shows clear acceleration rather than a plateau: filings sat at 2 records at the 2022 midpoint and climbed to a peak of 21 in 2024. The 2026 figure of 3 looks like a drop, but publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent year is always undercounted in a dataset like this. Treat the 2024 peak as the most reliable recent signal, not the tapering tail.
The large majority of records sit in C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering, 92.1% of records) and A61K (medicinal preparations, 77.2%), reflecting a field centred on vector construction and formulation. Peptide and protein claims under C07K appear in 48.5% of records, and therapeutic-activity claims under A61P in 38.6%. Supporting areas like enzymatic production (C12P, 11.9%) and measurement/testing (C12Q, 5.0%) are comparatively underrepresented, which is useful to know when scoping a narrower filing.
Based on IPC composition, the thinnest branches relative to the core vector-and-formulation cluster are C12Q measurement and testing methods (5.0% of records), C07H nucleic-acid and sugar chemistry (5.9%), and A01K animal-model claims (9.9%). These are areas where the foundational vector work is well established but supporting method and assay claims — particularly around pre-dosing immune-marker testing and durability-of-expression assays — remain comparatively open. A first claim there would likely pair a specific biomarker or assay method with a defined AAV serotype rather than claiming the vector itself.
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older, foundational filings simply because they have had more time to accumulate citations, so a document like WO1993024640A2 with 1,062 citations reflects historical influence on the field rather than current enforceability or commercial blocking power. Many foundational AAV gene-therapy patents from the 1990s have already expired or are nearing expiry. Current freedom-to-operate analysis should weight recent, active filings from the top assignees more heavily than raw citation counts.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.