Biobank Sample Preparation Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- 74.8% of all 254 records sit with just five assignees, a concentration ratio that leaves little room for a new entrant to file broad claims in the core routes.
- Filings fell 53% from 15 in 2021 to 7 in 2024, after peaking at 58 in 2023 — the field has already passed its densest filing period.
- Drying (F26B) and enzyme/DNA measurement (C12Q) each cover roughly a quarter of records, well behind medicinal preparations (A61K) at 45.7%, pointing to where claim space is thinner.
Filing growth compares 2021 (15 records) with 2024 (7) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 254 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks 254 published patent families filed between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine biobank sample preparation concepts — nucleic acid stabilization, plasma aliquoting, cryovial selection — with the operational variables that determine whether a stored sample is usable later: freeze-thaw cycling, storage temperature, retrieval latency, consent linkage and annotation completeness. It is a narrow but operationally critical slice of preanalytical science, sitting between biobanking logistics and molecular diagnostics.
Filing activity peaked in 2023 and has since eased, though the two most recent years are still filling in as publications lag behind filing dates by roughly 18 months. The technology composition below reflects filed subject matter rather than commercial deployment, and a single record can carry several IPC classes at once.
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Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 254-record corpus: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Annual filings rose to a peak of 58 in 2023, then declined to 7 by 2024 — a 53% drop from the 15 filed in 2021. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete due to publication lag and should not be read as a continued decline.
IPC subclass composition
A61K (medicinal preparations) appears in 45.7% of the 254 records, the single largest class. F26B (drying) and C12Q (enzyme/DNA measurement) each sit near a quarter of records, with B01D separation processes, C12N genetic engineering, A61P therapeutic activity and B01J catalysis trailing at 10-14% each. Because records can carry multiple classes, these shares sum to well over 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 254 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Biobank Sample Preparation with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about biobank sample preparation and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing
Methods of performing nucleic acid stabilization and separation (US20190270961A1, Qvella Corporation)
Methods are provided for the stabilization and separation of nucleic acids from a sample via contact with a lysis and stabilization reagent containing a cationic detergent. The detergent lyses cells and stabilizes released nucleic acids by forming nucleic acid-surfactant complexes, which are centrifugally precipitated, washed, and resuspended. The resuspension is thermally processed to disintegrate the complexes, releasing the nucleic acids into solution.Abstract text is truncated in the source record; full claims should be reviewed directly before relying on this summary.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WO2013109981A1 | Diagnostic processes that factor experimental conditions | 170 |
| 2 | US20130150253A1 | Diagnostic processes that factor experimental conditions | 111 |
| 3 | WO2014145002A2 | Low molecular weight silk compositions and stabilizing silk compositions | 94 |
| 4 | US20160046679A1 | Low molecular weight silk compositions and stabilizing silk compositions | 69 |
| 5 | WO2013063544A1 | Mirnas as diagnostic biomarkers to distinguish benign from malignant thyroid tumors | 56 |
| 6 | US20130142728A1 | Mirnas as diagnostic biomarkers to distinguish benign from malignant thyroid tumors | 51 |
| 7 | US20080124366A1 | Methods and Compositions for Treating Tumors | 38 |
| 8 | US20160263228A1 | Low molecular weight silk compositions and stabilizing silk compositions | 37 |
| 9 | US20150284362A1 | Carbazole-containing amides, carbamates, and ureas as cryptochrome modulators | 28 |
| 10 | US20110060137A1 | Stool sample processing method and stool sample processing container | 26 |
Citation counts are drawn from within this searched corpus and skew toward older filings — treat them as a signal of past influence, not current commercial weight.
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
Three read-throughs from the filing trend, the concentration figures and the technology composition, aimed at decisions rather than description.
The core routes are already claimed by a few holders
Five assignees account for 190 of 254 records in scope. A new entrant filing broad claims on stabilization chemistry or cryovial handling is filing into ground already covered by the incumbents at the top of the ranking.
Filing activity has cooled since its 2023 peak
Annual filings dropped from 15 in 2021 to 7 in 2024, following a peak of 58 filings in 2023. That does not mean the underlying problem is solved; publication lag means 2025-2026 filings are still arriving in the record.
Medicinal preparations dominate the claim mix
A61K covers nearly half of all records, well ahead of drying (F26B, 24.0%) and enzyme/DNA measurement (C12Q, 23.6%). Separation processes and catalysis classes sit under 14% each, suggesting the processing-hardware side of sample prep is comparatively less claimed than the chemistry side.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to biobank sample preparation, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the room is
The ranking covers 26 companies returned by the data endpoint — the complete ranking, not a top-50 or top-100 cut. Momentum in the most recent year is thin across the board, consistent with a corpus that peaked several years ago.
The leading assignee holds nearly a third of the corpus
The top-ranked assignee's 77 records dwarf the fifth-place holder's 23, and the tenth-place holder's 5 — a steep drop-off that marks this as a leader-plus-long-tail field rather than an evenly split one.
Beyond the top ten, filings thin quickly
The top 10 assignees combined hold 230 of 254 records (90.6%), leaving only a handful of records spread across the remaining ranked entrants. Single-filing entrants are common past the tenth position.
Recent-year activity has slowed across every tracked assignee
Every assignee with recent-year momentum data shows either a steep year-on-year decline or zero filings in the latest year. Given publication lag, this reflects an incomplete latest year as much as any real pullback.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Velico Medical Inc | 1 | -94% |
| Trustees of Tufts College | 0 | — |
| SYNCHRONICITY PHARMA INC | 0 | — |
| Sequenom Inc | 0 | — |
| Emergent Biodefense Operations Lansing LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Synchronicity Pharma Inc | 0 | — |
| Chemores Inc | 0 | — |
| NEPHROSANT INC | 0 | — |
Where to take this
The landscape points to a mature core and a thinner periphery. The next step is usually narrower than another market overview.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on the top holders' claims
With 74.8% of records held by five assignees, any new filing in the core stabilization or plasma-handling routes should be checked against their granted claims before drafting.
Explore assignee claims in Eureka →Map the under-claimed branches against your own pipeline
Retrieval latency, consent linkage and annotation completeness carry far fewer filings than the core chemistry classes — worth a closer look if your work touches any of them.
Search white space in Eureka →Track the most-cited prior art before drafting new claims
The most-cited records in this corpus concentrate around diagnostic process and stabilization chemistry filings from several years ago; understanding what they actually claim narrows the design-around problem.
Review cited records in Eureka →Common questions
The ranking covers 26 companies, and it is heavily concentrated: the top five hold 190 of 254 records in scope (74.8%), with the single leading assignee alone holding 77 records. Past the top ten, which together hold 90.6% of records, filings drop to single digits per company and then to isolated single filings. This means competitive attention should focus on the handful of leaders rather than the long tail.
No, filing activity has cooled since a peak of 58 records in 2023. Between 2021 and 2024, annual filings fell 53%, from 15 to 7. Because publications lag filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025-2026 figures are still incomplete and should not be read as confirming a further decline; they simply have not finished arriving yet.
Medicinal preparations (IPC class A61K) appear in 45.7% of the 254 records, making it the single largest technology class by a wide margin. Drying processes (F26B) and enzyme/DNA measurement methods (C12Q) each cover close to a quarter of records. Because a single patent can carry multiple IPC classes, these percentages overlap rather than summing to a whole.
The processing-hardware side of the field looks thinner than the chemistry side: separation processes (B01D), genetic engineering methods (C12N) and catalytic processes (B01J) each sit at 10-14% of records, well below the chemistry-heavy classes. Specific operational sub-areas — retrieval-latency-optimized cryovial indexing, consent-linkage metadata handling and automated annotation-completeness scoring — show comparatively few dedicated filings and are worth checking for freedom to operate.
Patent families are a fairer unit than raw document counts because they neutralise aggressive continuation filing and multi-jurisdiction duplication of the same invention. In this dataset the assignee ranking and record totals are already expressed in families, so comparisons across assignees are on equal footing. High filing density in a class indicates occupied claim space, not necessarily a mature or superior technology.
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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.