Cell-Free Glycosylation Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
A patent landscape review of cell-free glycosylation biomanufacturing: filing trends since 2017, the assignee ranking led by Northwestern and Cornell, technology composition across IPC classes, and the most-cited cell-fr
Filing growth = 2021 (2 records) → 2024 (0); 2024 is the last year we treat as complete.
What the cell-free glycosylation patent record shows
Cell-free glycosylation replaces a living cell with a lysate or reconstituted enzyme system to attach sugar chains to proteins outside a cell wall. That matters commercially because glycosylation is often the rate-limiting, hardest-to-control step in producing glycoproteins and glycoconjugate vaccines, and doing it acellularly removes constraints tied to host-cell viability and secretion pathways. The 52 records in scope span academic assignees, individual inventors and a small number of corporate filers, with Cornell University and Northwestern University repeatedly appearing together on the same families.
The filing history runs from 2017 through a 2020 peak, then thins out sharply — the evidence shows a -100% swing in filings between 2021 and 2024, the last year that can be treated as a complete filing cohort given the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication. Reading the drop-off as a technology in retreat would be premature; it is equally consistent with the core inventive territory already being claimed by the handful of repeat filers who dominate the ranking.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 52-record dataset: annual filing volume, and the IPC subclasses those records fall under. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, the subclass shares below are read against the full record count, not against each other.
A sharp 2020 peak followed by a fast decline
Filings rose to a peak of 16 records in 2020, then the documented trajectory shows -100% between 2021 (2 records) and 2024 (0 records) — the most recent year with a complete filing cohort. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as provisional; publication lag means they will keep rising as later filings surface.
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.
Manufacturing and therapeutic classes dominate
C12P (fermentation and enzymatic synthesis) covers 80.8% of the 52 records, and A61K (medicinal preparations) covers 69.2% — the two together frame this almost entirely as a manufacturing route toward a therapeutic or vaccine output rather than a general biochemistry claim. C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering, 63.5%) and C07K (peptides and proteins, 53.8%) sit underneath as the enabling machinery; C12R (microorganism indexing, 9.6%) is a minor tag by comparison.
Shares are the percentage of the 52 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Cell-Free Biomanufacturing: Cell Free Glycosylation Patent Landscape with Eureka
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Try EurekaThe most-cited and most representative filings
US12404533B2 — Bioconjugate vaccines' synthesis in prokaryotic cell lysates
Disclosed are methods, systems, components, and compositions for cell-free synthesis of glycosylated proteins, which may be utilized in vaccines, including anti-bacterial vaccines. The glycosylated proteins may include a bacterial polysaccharide conjugated to a carrier, which may be utilized to generate an immune response in an immunized host against the polysaccharide conjugated to the carrier. Suitable carriers may include but are not limited to Haemophilus influenzae protein D (PD), Neisseria meningitidis porin protein (PorA), Corynebacterium diphtheriae toxin (CRM 197), Clostridium tetani toxin (TT), and Escherichia coli maltose binding protein, among others.Assigned to Cornell University, granted 2025-09-02 — one of the most recent grants in the dataset and a direct descendant of the earlier prokaryote-based cell-free glycoprotein synthesis work also tied to Cornell and Northwestern.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WO2016109415A1 | Anti-CD47 antibodies and uses thereof | 196 |
| 2 | US20060211083A1 | Products and processes for in vitro synthesis of biomolecules | 88 |
| 3 | WO2013067523A1 | A prokaryote-based cell-free system for the synthesis of glycoproteins | 31 |
| 4 | US20180016612A1 | Method for rapid in vitro synthesis of bioconjugate vaccines via recombinant production of n-glycosylated pro… | 29 |
| 5 | US20170369572A1 | Anti-CD47 antibodies and uses thereof | 24 |
| 6 | US20180298416A1 | Cell-free glycoprotein synthesis (CFGPS) in prokaryotic cell lysates enriched with components for glycosylati… | 22 |
| 7 | WO2017117539A1 | Cell-free glycoprotein synthesis (CFGPS) in prokaryotic cell lysates enriched with components for glycosylati… | 22 |
| 8 | US20190284600A1 | Compositions and methods for rapid in vitro synthesis of bioconjugate vaccines in vitro via production and n-… | 15 |
| 9 | US20140255987A1 | Prokaryote-based cell-free system for the synthesis of glycoproteins | 15 |
| 10 | WO2020146814A1 | Bioconjugate vaccines' synthesis in prokaryotic cell lysates | 13 |
Citation counts reward older filings that have had more time to accumulate references; read them as a signal of influence within this corpus, not as a ranking of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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The assignee ranking and the citation table point at the same handful of institutions, but for different reasons — one reflects filing volume, the other reflects influence within this specific corpus.
One assignee accounts for close to half the ranked filings
The leading entity in the 13-company ranking holds 24 records, far ahead of the fifth-placed filer at 2 and the tenth at 1. That gap indicates a small core group did the bulk of the inventive work, with a long tail of single- or double-filing entrants around it.
The Northwestern–Cornell pairing is the dataset's structural backbone
Of 10 identified co-assignee pairs, the Northwestern–Cornell link at 16 shared records dwarfs the next strongest pairings, each at 3. Any competitive-intelligence read of this space starts with that pairing's family tree.
Anti-CD47 antibody filings lead citation counts, not the glycosylation core
The most-cited record in the set, an anti-CD47 antibody filing cited 196 times, sits adjacent to rather than at the centre of cell-free glycosylation chemistry — a reminder that citation volume in a keyword-scoped corpus often tracks a well-cited platform patent's breadth, not the topic's technical core.
The complete filing record ends flat, not rising
2020's peak of 16 filings gave way to a documented -100% change between 2021 (2 filings) and 2024 (0 filings), the last year with a complete cohort. Later years in the chart are still filling in under the publication lag and should not be read as confirming or reversing that trajectory yet.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to cell-free biomanufacturing: cell free glycosylation patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Where to take this analysis
The filing and citation patterns here raise questions that a static table cannot answer on its own — particularly around freedom to operate and where claim space remains open.
Map freedom to operate against the leading assignee's family
With one assignee holding 24 of the ranked records, any new filing in prokaryotic cell-lysate glycosylation should be checked claim-by-claim against that portfolio before committing R&D spend.
Explore claim charts in EurekaTrack the co-assignee network for licensing signals
The Northwestern–Cornell pairing and the smaller Kudlicki-linked clusters suggest where exclusive or non-exclusive licences are most likely to originate.
Trace assignee networks in EurekaWatch for the next filing cohort as the lag clears
2025 and 2026 figures will keep revising upward; re-running this landscape in two to three quarters will show whether the 2021–2024 decline held or reversed.
Set a monitoring alert in EurekaCommon questions about cell-free glycosylation patents
Cell-free glycosylation attaches sugar chains to proteins using lysates or purified enzyme systems rather than a living cell, which avoids constraints tied to host viability, secretion, and growth conditions. Because the reaction components, vectors and process steps differ substantially from cell-based glycoengineering, patent claims in this space are typically drafted around the cell-free system itself — the lysate composition, the glycosyltransferase machinery, or the reaction vessel — rather than around a modified organism. That distinction is why this landscape is scoped separately from broader glycoengineering patent sets, even though the two overlap in application, particularly in vaccine and antibody manufacturing.
The assignee ranking covers 13 companies and academic institutions, counted in records, with the leading assignee holding 24 records against a fifth-place holder at 2 and a tenth-place holder at 1. Cornell University and Northwestern University are also the strongest co-assignee pair in the dataset, appearing together on 16 shared records, which points to a long-running joint research programme rather than two independent filers. The ranking is not a top-50 or top-100 list; it is the complete set the underlying data returns for this topic.
Filing activity peaked in 2020 at 16 records and the documented trajectory shows a -100% change between 2021 (2 records) and 2024 (0 records), the most recent year that can be treated as a complete filing cohort. Publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete and should not yet be read as confirming a rebound or a continued decline. Anyone assessing whether to file in this space should treat the post-2020 numbers as provisional until at least the 2025 cohort settles.
US12404533B2, assigned to Cornell University and granted in September 2025, covers methods, systems and compositions for cell-free synthesis of glycosylated proteins for use in vaccines, including bacterial polysaccharide conjugates built on carriers such as diphtheria toxin (CRM197), tetanus toxin, and related carrier proteins. It sits downstream of earlier prokaryote-based cell-free glycoprotein synthesis work tied to the same Cornell–Northwestern research lineage. Anyone developing a cell-free bioconjugate vaccine process using prokaryotic lysates and a similar carrier-protein approach should review this filing's claims directly rather than relying on the abstract alone.
C12P (fermentation and enzymatic synthesis) appears in 80.8% of the 52 records in scope and A61K (medicinal preparations) in 69.2%, meaning the great majority of filings frame cell-free glycosylation as a manufacturing route toward a therapeutic or vaccine product rather than as standalone chemistry. C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering, 63.5%) and C07K (peptides and proteins, 53.8%) cover the enabling biological machinery underneath that manufacturing claim. Because records can carry multiple IPC codes, these percentages overlap rather than sum to 100%, and the pattern indicates dense claim coverage across the therapeutic-manufacturing intersection specifically.
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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.