Clinical LC-MS/MS Method Development Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- 29.5% concentration at the top. The five leading assignees combined account for 209 of the 708 records in scope — a field with a clear head but a long tail below it.
- Filings cooled after a 2018 peak. Annual filings hit 56 in 2018; by 2021-2024 the trend moved from 38 to 28 records, a 26% pullback over that span.
- Method-validation classes outweigh chemistry classes. G01N material analysis and testing sits on 32.3% of records, nearly matching A61P therapeutic-activity claims — the assay itself is as contested as the molecule.
Filing growth compares 2021 (38 records) with 2024 (28) — 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 708 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this patent set covers
This landscape covers 708 published patent records at the intersection of clinical tandem mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography assay development — filings that claim matrix-effect mitigation, internal-standard selection, ion-suppression control, calibration-curve design, carryover reduction or method validation protocols for clinical or bioanalytical LC-MS/MS work. It spans filings published between 2015 and mid-2026, drawing on the TACD fields of each record so both the assay platform and the validation technique had to appear together.
Because the search pairs a mass-spectrometry or chromatography assay term with a specific validation concept, the set skews toward records where the analytical method itself, not just the therapeutic molecule, is the subject of the claim. That makes patent families the more reliable unit here: many records share continuations or multi-jurisdiction equivalents built around the same underlying assay.
Filing trend and technology mix
Two views of the same 708 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in and should not be read as a decline.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose from 11 in 2017 to a peak of 56 in 2018, then eased. Using the last fully-settled span, 2021's 38 records fell to 28 in 2024, a 26% pullback — a cooling in new filing activity rather than a collapse in the underlying field.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
A61K (medicinal preparations) touches 57.6% of records and A61P (therapeutic activity) 32.8%, but G01N (material analysis and testing) is close behind at 32.3% — confirming that assay mechanics, not just the drug being measured, carry a substantial share of the claim space. Smaller pockets sit in C07D heterocyclics (10.0%), C07H sugars and nucleic acids (7.8%), C12N microorganisms (7.2%), C07K peptides (6.1%) and C08G condensation polymers (5.1%).
Shares are the percentage of the 708 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Clinical LC-MS/MS Method Development with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about clinical lc-ms/ms method development and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a recent filing
Method for detecting lysosomal storage disease biomarkers and kits for performing the method
Filed by Universiteit Antwerpen and published 2026-03-12, this application claims methods for detecting multiple lysosomal storage disease biomarkers — including Lyso-Gb1 and Lyso-Gb3 — from a single dried blood spot sample preparation, plus a kit of parts for performing the method.Abstract condensed from the original filing.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6699885B2 | Substituted benzimidazole dosage forms and methods of using same | 205 |
| 2 | US5552156A | Liposomal and micellular stabilization of camptothecin drugs | 185 |
| 3 | WO1995030422A1 | Controlled-release dosage forms of azithromycin | 157 |
| 4 | US20050054682A1 | Pharmaceutical compositions comprising substituted benzimidazoles and methods of using same | 133 |
| 5 | US6150366A | Ziprasidone formulations | 126 |
| 6 | US20050191359A1 | Water soluble nanoparticles and method for their production | 123 |
| 7 | US20060034925A1 | Tumor targeting drug-loaded particles | 116 |
| 8 | WO2004089291A2 | Tumor-targeting drug-loaded particles | 112 |
| 9 | US20040219186A1 | Expandable gastric retention device | 108 |
| 10 | US6858383B2 | Compositions and methods for the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases and disorders, and for i… | 101 |
Citation counts favour older records simply because they have had longer to accumulate them — read them as a signal of influence within this corpus, not as a ranking of current technical importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Four read-outs from the same 708-record set: where filing concentrates, where it comes from, and what that means for anyone deciding where to file next.
The top of the field is settled, the rest is open
The five leading assignees combined hold 209 of the 708 records in scope, with the leader alone on 68. Below tenth place — at 19 records — the ranking thins into single- and double-digit filers, which is where most new entrants will actually be competing.
Filing strategy runs through the US and PCT first
The United States leads as receiving office with 181 filings, ahead of the EPO (96) and WIPO/PCT (95). Canada, Australia and Israel each carry meaningfully fewer filings, suggesting protection strategies for this assay work still concentrate on US and PCT-route coverage before broader national-phase entry.
Post-peak filings have eased, not stalled
After peaking at 56 records in 2018, annual filings fell from 38 in 2021 to 28 in 2024. That is a real pullback in new applications, but it follows a genuine surge rather than signalling the field running dry — validation-heavy assay claims tend to arrive in waves tied to instrument and regulatory cycles.
Assay mechanics are as contested as the molecule
G01N (material analysis and testing) appears on 32.3% of the 708 records, nearly level with A61P's 32.8% therapeutic-activity share. For a field defined by validation technique, that is a meaningful signal: the calibration, carryover and matrix-effect claims are drawing nearly as much filing attention as the drug substance itself.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to clinical lc-ms/ms method development, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranked leaders in this dataset cover pharmaceutical sponsors, diagnostics labs and university groups, but concentration is moderate: the top ten hold 45.9% of the 708 records, leaving more than half spread across a long tail of smaller filers.
One sponsor sets the pace, without dominating it
The leading assignee holds 68 of the 708 records in scope, well ahead of fifth place at 30 and tenth place at 19. That gap between first and fifth suggests a genuine leader rather than a tightly bunched top tier.
Even leaders show little latest-year output
Most of the assignees with the deepest historical portfolios show zero or at most one filing in the latest year tracked. That is consistent with the broader post-2018 pullback and with publication lag rather than a sign these sponsors have exited the space.
Co-filing is rare and concentrated around one sponsor
Only ten co-assignee pairings appear across this dataset, and the strongest repeating pairs all involve named inventors alongside a single pharmaceutical assignee. Most filers in this space patent alone rather than through joint ventures or cross-licensed development.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Quest Diagnostics Investments Inc | 1 | 0% |
| Pfizer Products Inc | 0 | — |
| Intezyne Technologies Inc | 0 | — |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA Inc | 0 | — |
| The Curators of the University of Missouri | 0 | — |
| Pfizer Inc | 0 | — |
| Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd | 0 | — |
| Genentech Inc | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The figures above describe the shape of the field. Turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means going record by record.
Check freedom-to-operate against the leader's claims
With one assignee holding 68 of 708 records, any new calibration-curve or internal-standard method should be checked against that portfolio's specific claim language before drafting.
Run a claim comparison in EurekaTrack the under-claimed branches
Dried-blood-spot extraction and automated drift correction show comparatively light filing activity relative to the core A61K and G01N classes — worth monitoring before a competitor claims the space.
Set up monitoring in EurekaWatch for the 2025-2026 publication catch-up
Recent-year filing counts are understated by roughly 18 months of publication lag; re-check the trend once later filings post.
Explore the full dataset in EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
One assignee leads this dataset with 68 of the 708 records in scope, noticeably ahead of the fifth-ranked filer at 30 records. That gap between first place and the rest of the top five indicates a genuine leader rather than a tightly bunched group at the top. Below tenth place, at 19 records, the ranking thins quickly into a long tail of smaller filers, so a single company's dominance should not be assumed to extend across the whole field.
Filings peaked at 56 records in 2018 and have since eased, with the last fully comparable span showing a drop from 38 records in 2021 to 28 in 2024, a 26% decline. That is a real pullback rather than an artefact of the data, but it follows a genuine surge in filing activity rather than the field running dry. Figures for 2025 and 2026 should be read cautiously, since publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months.
The dataset splits mainly across A61K (medicinal preparations, 57.6% of records), A61P (therapeutic activity, 32.8%) and G01N (material analysis and testing, 32.3%), with smaller shares in heterocyclic chemistry, nucleic acids, microorganisms, peptides and condensation polymers. Because a single record can carry several IPC classes, these shares sum to well over 100% and should not be treated as mutually exclusive categories. The near-parity between A61P and G01N is notable: assay-method claims are almost as heavily filed as therapeutic-activity claims in this space.
Based on the technology composition, classes like C08G condensation polymers (5.1% of records) and C07K peptides (6.1%) carry far less filing density than the dominant A61K, A61P and G01N classes, suggesting less-crowded claim territory around sample-cleanup chemistry and peptide-specific assay methods. Dried-blood-spot multi-biomarker extraction and automated calibration-drift correction also show comparatively light coverage relative to the core classes. Any white-space claim should still be checked against the leading assignees' specific patent language, since low class-level density does not guarantee an individual claim is unclaimed.
The United States leads with 181 filings recorded as receiving office, ahead of the European Patent Office at 96 and the WIPO/PCT route at 95. Canada, Australia and Israel each show meaningfully lower counts. This pattern suggests most applicants in this space secure US protection first and use the PCT route for international reach before deciding on national-phase filings elsewhere.
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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.