There are 5,348 published patent records in this scope, covering filings from 2015 through the 2026 data cut-off. The search combines terms for engineered or recombinant bacterial hosts with promoter-mutation, operator-sequence, transcription-strength and reporter-assay language, restricted to the core genetic-engineering and DNA/enzyme measurement classification codes. This figure counts records, and patent families are the fairer unit for cross-jurisdiction comparison since they neutralise duplicate filings of the same invention in different countries.

The ranked leaders comprise 100 assignees identified in this dataset, with the top filer holding 620 records and a clear step down to the fifth-ranked filer at 159. The top 5 assignees combined account for 26.5% of all 5,348 records in scope, and the top 10 for 36.2%, so while there is a recognisable leading group, the majority of the field is held by a long tail of smaller filers. Several of the most active historical filers show negative year-on-year filing momentum in the latest complete year, which matters more for competitive tracking than the raw historical count.

Filings are slowing on the complete-year data available: 2021 filings stood at 206 and fell to 80 by 2024, a 61% decline over that three-year span. The peak year in the dataset was 2017 at 248 filings. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in and should not yet be read as confirmation the decline has continued or bottomed out.