Drug Eluting Stent Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
A data-backed look at drug eluting stent patents: who holds the ranked lead, how filings have moved since the 2017 peak, and which IPC branches remain under-claimed.
Filing growth = 2021 (31 records) → 2024 (12); 2024 is the last year we treat as complete. Top-5 share = the 5 largest assignees ÷ all 661 records in scope (CR5), not the ranked leaders only.
What the drug eluting stent patent record actually shows
A drug eluting stent combines a mechanical scaffold with a drug reservoir and a release mechanism, which is why the classification spread runs across implant hardware, sterilisation/coating processes and the medicinal preparations themselves. 661 records sit in scope for this search across 2015 to the 2026 cut-off, filed through national offices and the PCT route. The earliest, most heavily cited records in this set — several from the mid-1990s priority chain — still anchor the citation graph, which is a sign of foundational claim scope rather than of current filing activity.
Filing volume peaked in 2017 at 38 records and has since thinned considerably, with the most recent complete year showing a steep pull-back from the 2021 level. Because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, the final one or two years in any chart understate real activity and should be read as provisional rather than as a decline in interest.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 661-record set: how filing has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim volume. Both use the full record count as the denominator, so class shares add up to more than 100% because a single record can carry several classes.
Filing trend: a sharp pull-back from the 2017 and 2021 highs
Annual filings ran from 38 in the 2017 peak year down through the 2021 figure of 31 to 12 by 2024, a 61% drop over that three-year span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in under publication lag and should not be read as confirmation of a continued decline.
Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in. Growth rates on this page therefore end at 2024; running them to the last bar would understate the field.
Technology composition: implant and sterilisation claims dominate
A61F implants and prostheses cover 65.1% of the 661 records and A61L sterilising/disinfecting claims cover 58.7%, together forming the structural core of most filings. A61K medicinal preparations sit at 23.6%, while coating processes (B05D, 12.3%) and the two polymer classes (C08F at 2.4%, C08G at 2.3%) make up a much thinner, more specialised layer of the field.
Shares are the percentage of the 661 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
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Drug eluting stent system and manufacturing process of drug eluting stent system
This invention provides a drug eluting stent system provided with a stent, which carries thereon a biologically/physiologically active substance, and a deoxidant within a package, and a manufacturing process of the drug eluting stent system. The drug eluting stent system has a substantially extended expiration date and permits a practical application.Filed by Terumo, published 2009-02-26 as US20090054971A1 — illustrative of how packaging and shelf-life claims sit alongside the core stent hardware in this field.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5591227A | Drug eluting stent | 775 |
| 2 | US5697967A | Drug eluting stent | 529 |
| 3 | US5599352A | Method of making a drug eluting stent | 465 |
| 4 | EP0701802A1 | Drug eluting stent | 257 |
| 5 | US20050060017A1 | Means and method for the treatment of cerebral aneurysms | 231 |
| 6 | US20050233062A1 | Thermal treatment of an implantable medical device | 214 |
| 7 | WO2004009145A1 | Purified polymers for coatings of implantable medical devices | 207 |
| 8 | US20040006381A1 | Noncylindrical drug eluting stent for treating vascular bifurcations | 201 |
| 9 | US20040072922A1 | Rate limiting barriers for implantable medical devices | 198 |
| 10 | US20040116999A1 | Textured and drug eluting coronary artery stent | 195 |
Citation counts reward age inside this corpus — the highest-cited records here date from the mid-1990s priority chain and should be read as foundational claim scope, not as current state of the art.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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The ranking, the receiving-office split and the co-filing pairs point to a field with a defined set of incumbents, a large secondary tier, and activity concentrated in a small number of jurisdictions.
Leadership is real but not exclusive
The leading assignee holds 120 records against a fifth-place figure of 23 and a tenth-place figure of 12 — a steep drop-off after the leader, then a much flatter tail. The top 10 combined reach 47.7% of all 661 records, meaning more than half of the field sits outside the ranked leadership.
Volume has pulled back from its recent high
Filings ran from 31 in 2021 down to 12 by 2024, the last year the dataset can treat as complete. Read this alongside the 2017 peak of 38: the field has moved through at least one cycle of build-up and retreat within the window covered.
Filing is US- and China-led, with PCT as a strong third route
The United States leads with 175 records, China follows at 138, and Europe (EPO) sits at 76. WIPO/PCT filings at 70 show that a meaningful share of applicants are pursuing multi-jurisdiction protection rather than filing nationally first.
Named-inventor pairs cluster around a small number of firms
The strongest co-assignee pair in the dataset links Abbott Cardiovascular Systems with a named inventor across 7 records; two further pairs tied to Boston Scientific each recur across 4 records. These recurring pairings mark specific R&D teams worth tracking individually, not just at the corporate level.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to cardiovascular devices: drug eluting stent patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, competitive tracking, or identifying open claim space.
Map claim scope around the core implant classes
A61F and A61L claims cover the majority of records, so any new filing in stent hardware or coating durability needs a close read of the ranked leaders' claim sets before drafting.
Explore claims in Eureka →Track the thinning filing trend by assignee
The 2021-to-2024 pull-back is field-wide, but it is worth checking whether specific assignees are still filing at pace while others have stopped, since that changes who to watch.
Run an assignee trend query in Eureka →Test white space in the thinner IPC branches
Coating processes and the two polymer classes carry far fewer records than the implant and sterilisation core, which is where a narrower, well-drafted claim has more room to stand.
Screen white space in Eureka →Common questions on the drug eluting stent patent landscape
The ranking covers 100 assignees, with the leader holding 120 records and a steep drop to 23 records at fifth place and 12 at tenth. The top 5 ranked assignees combined account for 37.1% of all 661 records in scope, and the top 10 combined reach 47.7%. That leaves more than half of the field held outside the ranked leadership, spread across a long tail of companies with far fewer filings each, so competitive tracking needs to look past just the top names.
Filing peaked in 2017 at 38 records and has since pulled back, falling from 31 records in 2021 to 12 in 2024 — a 61% drop over that three-year span, which is the last period the dataset can treat as complete. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in and should not yet be read as confirmation of a continued decline. Anyone using this trend for planning should treat the most recent one to two years as provisional.
A61F, covering implants and prostheses, appears in 65.1% of the 661 records in scope, and A61L, covering sterilising and disinfecting, appears in 58.7% — together forming the structural core of most filings. A61K medicinal preparations sit at 23.6%, reflecting the drug component itself, while coating processes (B05D) and specific polymer classes (C08F, C08G) each cover well under 15% of records. A record can carry multiple classes, so these figures are not mutually exclusive and add to more than 100%.
The densest claim space sits in A61F implant hardware and A61L sterilisation/coating methods, both above 58% of records, which means new hardware and sterilisation claims face the thickest prior art. The thinner branches — B05D coating processes at 12.3% and the C08F/C08G polymer classes each under 3% — carry far fewer records and may offer more room for a narrowly drafted claim, though thinner coverage does not by itself mean the technology is easier to commercialise.
The United States receiving office leads with 175 records, followed by China at 138, Europe (EPO) at 76 and WIPO under the PCT route at 70. Japan and South Korea trail at 27 and 25 records respectively. The strong PCT figure indicates that a meaningful portion of applicants are seeking multi-jurisdiction protection from the outset rather than filing nationally and expanding later.
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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.