Cell Disruption Enzymatic Lysis Patents: Leaders & White Space 2026
- No single company dominates. the ranked leader holds 50 records and the top 5 combined account for just 11.8% of all 1,764 records in scope.
- Filings have pulled back sharply. from 53 in 2021 to 17 in 2024, a -68% swing over that three-year span, after peaking at 91 in 2019.
- Claim activity clusters outside the core class. measuring/testing (C12Q, 28.5%), fermentation synthesis (C12P, 26.2%) and bioreactor apparatus (C12M, 21.3%) each carry a meaningful share alongside the dominant C12N class.
Filing growth compares 2021 (53 records) with 2024 (17) — 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 1,764 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
Cell disruption and enzymatic lysis sits at the intersection of bioprocessing and diagnostics: methods that break open cell walls or membranes to release intracellular protein, lipid or nucleic acid payloads. The search scope here spans 1,764 published records filed against IPC classes covering microorganism handling (C12N), grinding and comminution apparatus (B02C19/18) and chemical/physical process equipment (B01J19/10), filtered to claims discussing lytic enzymes, enzyme dosage, incubation time, cell wall targeting, product release or lysis efficiency. That combination captures both the biological method claims and the mechanical or apparatus claims used to achieve disruption.
Coverage runs from 2015 through the mid-2026 data cut-off. Because publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months, the last one to two years in any trend chart will understate real filing activity and should be read as provisional rather than a genuine slowdown.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,764-record corpus: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
Filing trend: a sharp pullback from the 2019 peak
Filings rose to a peak of 91 in 2019, then declined; the 2021-to-2024 span shows 53 down to 17 records, a -68% move that the hero card reflects exactly. 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in under the publication lag and should not be read as confirming a continued decline.
Technology composition: concentrated in microorganism handling, spread across adjacent processes
C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) appears in 97.2% of the 1,764 records, effectively defining the corpus. Below that, C12Q (enzyme/DNA measuring and testing) at 28.5%, C12P (fermentation and enzymatic synthesis) at 26.2%, and C12M (bioreactors and enzyme apparatus) at 21.3% show where lysis methods are claimed alongside downstream measurement, synthesis and equipment. Because records can carry multiple classes, these shares add to more than 100% and should not be summed.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,764 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Cell Disruption Enzymatic Lysis with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about cell disruption enzymatic lysis and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative recent filing
US20240279592A1 — A method of cell lysis (Evonik Operations GmbH, 2024-08-22)
The invention relates to a method of cell lysis for forming at least one pore in the cell wall and/or cell membrane of a cell in an aqueous medium, for release of an intracellular target protein and/or lipid, using electrohydraulic comminution driven by a pulse current source. Electrical impulse discharges pass between at least two electrodes within an underwater radio path, after which the target protein or lipid is separated from the disrupted cell.Abstract text drawn directly from the published filing.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20050170479A1 | Method for producing lipids by liberation from biomass | 306 |
| 2 | US7238522B2 | Devices and methods for biomaterial production | 248 |
| 3 | US20030075446A1 | Microfluidic systems and methods of transport and lysis of cells and analysis of cell lysate | 237 |
| 4 | US5514581A | Functional recombinantly prepared synthetic protein polymer | 209 |
| 5 | US5243038A | Construction of synthetic DNA and its use in large polypeptide synthesis | 191 |
| 6 | US6018030A | Peptides comprising repetitive units of amino acids and DNA sequences encoding the same | 173 |
| 7 | US5786208A | Method for extracting nucleic acids from a wide range of organisms | 171 |
| 8 | US5374522A | Method for releasing RNA and DNA from cells | 169 |
| 9 | US6197553B1 | Method for large scale plasmid purification | 165 |
| 10 | US6274726B1 | Pressure-enhanced extraction and purification | 149 |
Citation counts favour older records that have had more time to accumulate citations within the searched corpus; treat them as a signal of influence, not of current technical importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the data means for a filing decision
Four patterns in the corpus that matter more than any single ranking.
No single assignee controls the field
The ranked leader holds 50 records against a total of 1,764 in scope, and the top 5 combined reach only 11.8% of all records. That is a fragmented field rather than one gated by a handful of blocking portfolios — useful context before assuming a large incumbent controls the approach you are evaluating.
Filing volume has pulled back from its 2019 peak
After peaking at 91 records in 2019, annual filings fell to 53 in 2021 and 17 in 2024 — a -68% move across that span. Read the 2025-2026 figures as incomplete rather than as evidence the decline is accelerating, since publication lag understates the most recent years.
Claims sit heavily in microorganism handling but spill into measurement and synthesis
C12N appears in 97.2% of records, essentially defining the search scope, while C12Q (enzyme/DNA measurement), C12P (fermentation synthesis) and C12M (bioreactor apparatus) each carry a secondary but sizeable share. A method claim that only addresses lysis mechanics without touching these adjacent classes may be leaving downstream claim space unclaimed.
Joint filing is limited but concentrated where it exists
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the corpus, and the strongest pair shares 8 records — a university-industry link rather than a broad collaboration network. Most assignees file independently, which matters when scouting for licensing or co-development partners already active in this space.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to cell disruption enzymatic lysis, with the prior art for and against each one.
Assignee landscape: fragmented, with a long tail
The ranking covers 100 companies by record count; it is the full set the data endpoint returns, not a curated top list. The leader holds 50 records, fifth place holds 32, and tenth place holds 23 — a gradual taper rather than a cliff.
The top filer is well ahead of fifth place but far from dominant
A gap from 50 records at first place to 32 at fifth place shows a leader with a real portfolio, but one that still represents a small fraction of the 1,764-record field. Diligence on this leader's specific claim scope is worthwhile before assuming broad coverage.
The drop from fifth to tenth place is gradual, not cliff-like
Tenth place holds 23 records against 32 at fifth — a smooth taper that suggests many mid-sized portfolios rather than a sharp cutoff after a handful of leaders. That shape favours a freedom-to-operate search across a broader set of assignees, not just the top few names.
Even active historical filers show little momentum in the latest year
Among assignees tracked for recent-year momentum, filing counts in the latest year sit at 0 or 2 records, with one tracked assignee showing a -100% year-on-year move. This is consistent with the broader pullback in filing volume rather than any single company's specific strategy shift.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Corbion Biotech, Inc. | 2 | — |
| Becton, Dickinson and Company | 0 | — |
| Centelion SAS | 0 | — |
| Safeguard Biosystems Holdings Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Gen-Probe Incorporated | 0 | -100% |
| GreenLight Biosciences, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Merck & Co., Inc. | 0 | — |
| DSM IP Assets B.V. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a fragmented field with a clear recent pullback in filing volume — the next steps depend on whether you are scouting freedom-to-operate or looking for licensing targets.
Map claim scope against the under-claimed branches
Cross-check the gate chips above against your own technical roadmap to see which sub-areas still have open claim space versus which sit inside dense prior art.
Explore this in Eureka →Track the leader and mid-field assignees for renewed activity
With filing volume down -68% from 2021 to 2024, a resumption of activity among the ranked leaders would be an early signal worth monitoring given the publication lag.
Set up monitoring in Eureka →Common questions about this landscape
The assignee ranking covers 100 companies by record count, with the leader holding 50 records against a field of 1,764 total records in scope. The top 5 combined account for 11.8% of all records, which means no single company controls a dominant share of the claim space. This is a fragmented field with a long tail of mid-sized and single-filing entrants rather than a market gated by two or three large portfolios.
Filing volume peaked at 91 records in 2019 and has declined since, with the 2021-to-2024 span showing a drop from 53 to 17 records, a -68% move. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent years should not be read as proof the decline is continuing at the same pace. Treat the 2024 figure as the most recent reliable data point.
Beyond the core C12N microorganism-handling class, which appears in 97.2% of the 1,764 records, the largest overlaps are with C12Q enzyme and DNA measurement (28.5%), C12P fermentation and enzymatic synthesis (26.2%), and C12M bioreactor and enzyme apparatus (21.3%). This spread shows that lysis method claims are frequently bundled with downstream measurement or synthesis steps rather than filed as standalone mechanical claims. A record can carry more than one class, so these percentages do not sum to 100%.
US20240279592A1, filed by Evonik Operations GmbH and published in 2024, claims a method of cell lysis using electrohydraulic comminution — pulsed electrical discharges between electrodes in an aqueous medium — to form pores in the cell wall or membrane and release target protein or lipid. It is a physical/electrical disruption method, not an enzymatic one, so it does not directly block lytic-enzyme-based approaches to cell disruption. Anyone combining electrical pulse disruption with enzymatic pre-treatment or post-treatment steps should review its specific claim language for overlap.
The technology composition data shows lighter filing density in areas like enzyme dosage optimisation for mixed cultures, incubation-time control linked to real-time lysis-efficiency sensing, and continuous-flow lysis integrated with downstream product capture, relative to the dense core lysis-method claims. These are process-control and integration angles rather than the disruption mechanism itself. Given the -68% pullback in overall filing volume between 2021 and 2024, these branches have not seen the same claim pressure as the core methods and are worth a focused prior-art search before committing to a specific claim strategy.
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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.