CRISPR Gene Editing Patent Landscape 2026
CRISPR Gene Editing Patent Landscape in 2026
CRISPR gene editing is a mature, heavily institutionalized field anchored by a small group of US academic and research institutions that collectively dominate the top of the ranking. The field reached peak annual filing volume around 2022 and has since plateaued, with the most recent years still subject to publication lag.
Academic institutions lead a concentrated but broad competitive field
The Regents of the University of California leads all filers, followed closely by Harvard University, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, MIT, and the Broad Institute — all within a tight band at the top of the ranking. The top five filers account for twenty-three percent of the combined total of the hundred largest filers, signaling meaningful concentration at the apex.
Despite that top-tier concentration, the ranking extends deep, with agricultural biotechnology firms such as Pioneer Hi-Bred International and Monsanto Technology, therapeutic companies including Sangamo Therapeutics and Intellia Therapeutics, and a range of universities and hospitals all holding substantial positions. The field is genuinely multi-sector, spanning human therapeutics, crop science, and basic research tooling.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Regents of the University of California | 3,953 | |
| 2 | PRESIDENT & FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE | 3,653 | |
| 3 | Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 3,263 | |
| 4 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 3,262 | |
| 5 | The Broad Institute Inc. | 3,119 | |
| 6 | Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. | 2,877 | |
| 7 | Monsanto Technology LLC | 2,021 | |
| 8 | Sangamo Therapeutics Inc. | 1,813 | |
| 9 | The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania | 1,777 | |
| 10 | The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University | 1,550 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Board of Regents, The University of Texas System | 1,252 | |
| 12 | Intellia Therapeutics Inc. | 1,228 | |
| 13 | The General Hospital Corporation | 1,130 | |
| 14 | INST NAT DE LA SANTE & DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE (I… | 1,117 | |
| 15 | Novartis AG | 1,086 | |
| 16 | China Agricultural University | 1,072 | |
| 17 | Huazhong Agricultural University | 1,014 | |
| 18 | Duke University | 972 | |
| 19 | CJ CheilJedang Corporation | 962 | |
| 20 | Editas Medicine Inc. | 933 |
The dominance of academic and non-profit research institutions at the summit reflects the foundational nature of the core Cas9 and Cas12 platform inventions; commercial players cluster in the second and third tiers, indicating that primary IP control remains largely outside purely commercial hands, with licensing and collaboration serving as the primary route to freedom to operate.
Filing counts for 2024 and 2025 are materially under-counted due to standard patent publication lag of 18–24 months and should not be interpreted as a slowdown beyond the plateau already observed in 2023. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Filing volume plateaued after a 2022 peak; core genetics class dominates the technology mix
Two charts together reveal a field that expanded rapidly through 2022 before annual volume eased, and whose technology composition is overwhelmingly concentrated in nucleic-acid and enzyme engineering, with therapeutic application classes forming a significant secondary layer.
Annual filing trend
Filings climbed steadily from 2017 through a 2022 peak, then eased in 2023. Figures for 2024 and 2025 are substantially under-counted due to publication lag and do not represent a genuine further decline; the field should be read as plateaued near its 2022 high rather than contracting.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) is the dominant IPC class by a wide margin, reflecting the core mechanistic nature of most filings. A61K (medicinal preparations) and C07K (peptides and proteins) form a substantial therapeutic application tier, while A01H (plant breeding) and A01K (animal husbandry) represent the agricultural application layer — present but comparatively sparse relative to the therapeutic and tooling core.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Nucleotide editing to reframe DMD transcripts by b…
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a fatal muscle disease caused by the lack of dystrophin, which maintains muscle membrane integrity. Provided herein are methods of using adenine base editor (ABE) to modify splice sites of the dystrophin gene, causing skipping or refraining of common DMD exon deletion mutations, restoring dystrophin expression. Also… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CRISPR-Cas systems and methods for altering expres… | 3,157 |
| 2 | Delivery, engineering and optimization of systems,… | 1,479 |
| 3 | CRISPR-Cas systems and methods for altering expres… | 1,315 |
| 4 | CRISPR-Cas component systems, methods and composit… | 1,262 |
| 5 | CRISPR-Cas component systems, methods and composit… | 1,226 |
| 6 | Engineering and optimization of improved systems, … | 1,092 |
| 7 | Crispr-CAS systems and methods for altering expres… | 1,091 |
| 8 | CRISPR-Cas nickase systems, methods and compositio… | 1,046 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of a maturing filing curve, tight academic control of foundational IP, deep collaboration networks, and heavy US and PCT jurisdiction coverage shapes where new entrants can realistically compete.
Field has plateaued near its 2022 peak
The lifecycle stage is Maturity: annual filings plateaued near their 2022 peak and have eased since, while the multi-year window still shows modest positive growth of five percent. New entrants face a crowded core; the highest-value white space lies in application-layer subclasses rather than in further foundational Cas-system coverage. Incremental improvements to delivery, specificity, and off-target reduction remain the most active frontier.
Lifecycle: MaturityTop five control nearly a quarter of the leading filers’ combined output
The top five filers — UC Regents, Harvard, Regeneron, MIT, and the Broad Institute — hold twenty-three percent of the combined patent records of the hundred largest filers. This degree of concentration in academic and non-profit hands is unusual; it means commercial players must either license from or collaborate with these institutions to access core platform rights. The second tier (Pioneer Hi-Bred, Monsanto Technology, Sangamo) indicates that freedom-to-operate strategies must account for both fundamental and application-layer IP.
High concentration at apexBroad–MIT–Harvard triangle dominates co-filing activity
The most active co-filing pair is the Broad Institute and MIT with 1,237 joint patent records, followed by the Broad Institute and Harvard with 853, and MIT and Harvard with 590. These three nodes form the core of the ecosystem’s collaboration network. Beyond the academic core, CRISPR Therapeutics and Bayer Pharmaceuticals co-filed on 74 records, and Intellia Therapeutics and Novartis on 54, showing that academic-to-industry licensing relationships have produced formal co-inventorship as well.
Academic triangle dominantUS and PCT filings account for the bulk of jurisdictional coverage
The United States leads all jurisdictions, followed by WIPO PCT and the European Patent Office. Australia and Canada form a secondary tier of English-language coverage. Singapore and New Zealand appear as niche validation markets. The relative absence of filings in major Asian manufacturing jurisdictions beyond what is captured in PCT routes suggests that geographic white space may exist in direct national filings in those markets, though this requires further validation.
US + PCT + EPO coreGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| The Broad Institute | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 1,237 |
| The Broad Institute | President and Fellows of Harvard College | 853 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | President and Fellows of Harvard College | 590 |
| CRISPR Therapeutics AG | Bayer Pharma AG | 74 |
| The Broad Institute | Brigham and Women’s Hospital | 60 |
| Intellia Therapeutics Inc. | Novartis AG | 54 |
| The Broad Institute | Iowa University Research Foundation | 43 |
| The Broad Institute | The Rockefeller University | 42 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Iowa University Research Foundation | 42 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | The Rockefeller University | 42 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Broad Institute and MIT lead by volume; UC Regents shows the most stable recent trajectory
The top of the ranking is defined by research institutions with deep Cas-system engineering portfolios. Momentum data shows most top filers have pulled back from their peak filing pace, while Pairwise Plants Services stands out as a grower in the agricultural application tier.
The Broad Institute
The Broad Institute holds the fifth-ranked position with 3,119 patent records, and is the anchor of the field’s most active co-filing network, collaborating closely with both MIT and Harvard. Its technology focus is concentrated in C12N15 (nucleic acid engineering) and C12N9 (enzyme engineering), with a secondary position in A61K48 (nucleic acid medicinal preparations). Recent momentum shows a decline of nineteen percent versus its prior three-year period, consistent with the broader plateau across the field’s top tier.
patent records: 3,119Pairwise Plants Services
Pairwise Plants Services is the standout momentum story among leading filers, posting a twenty-one percent increase in recent filing activity versus the prior comparable period — the only top-tier entity to show meaningful upward momentum. Its technology emphasis spans C12N15, C12N9, and C07K14, reflecting a focus on plant-trait engineering rather than human therapeutics. This trajectory makes it the most active growth vector in the agricultural application branch of the corpus.
patent records: 2,877| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| The Broad Institute | 351 | ▼ -19% |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 276 | ▼ -21% |
| President and Fellows of Harvard College | 271 | ▼ -20% |
| Regents of the University of California | 252 | ▬ -3% |
| CRISPR Therapeutics AG | 109 | ▼ -53% |
| Pairwise Plants Services Inc. | 227 | ▲ +21% |
| Editas Medicine Inc. | 73 | ▼ -30% |
| Intellia Therapeutics Inc. | 157 | ▬ +4% |
Under-served adjacent branches worth monitoring
Several IPC branches appear at materially lower coverage relative to the dominant C12N core, suggesting areas where the CRISPR toolset has technical applicability but patent density has not yet followed. These are observations of relative sparsity; technical and commercial validation is needed before treating them as investment targets.
A01H · New plants and plant breeding
With a share of approximately two percent of the corpus, plant breeding applications represent a sparse branch despite CRISPR’s demonstrated utility for precise trait engineering in crops. Pairwise Plants Services’ rising filing momentum confirms the technical pathway exists. For entrants with crop-science capabilities, this branch offers a lower-density entry point compared to the saturated human-therapeutics core, though freedom to operate against foundational Cas-system IP remains a prerequisite.
Search this in Eureka →C12Q · Measuring and testing involving enzymes and DNA
Diagnostic and detection applications using CRISPR — such as SHERLOCK and DETECTR-type assays — sit under C12Q, which accounts for approximately four percent of the corpus. Given the growing clinical and field-deployable diagnostics market, the relative sparsity here compared to the therapeutic and foundational engineering classes suggests room for focused IP development in sequence-specific detection, particularly for infectious disease and oncology applications where sensitivity and speed matter.
Search this in Eureka →How leading filers differ across technology routes
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | C12N 15 · Microorganisms & genetic engineering | C12N 9 · Microorganisms & genetic engineering | A61K 48 · Medicinal preparations | C07K 14 · Peptides & proteins | C12N 5 · Microorganisms & genetic engineering |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Broad Institute | Strong · 1,476 | Strong · 1,105 | Emerging · 217 | Emerging · 152 | Emerging · 51 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Strong · 1,364 | Strong · 961 | Emerging · 222 | Emerging · 104 | Absent |
| President and Fellows of Harvard College | Strong · 1,171 | Strong · 940 | Emerging · 189 | Emerging · 203 | Absent |
| Regents of the University of California | Strong · 689 | Strong · 521 | Moderate · 165 | Emerging · 137 | Emerging · 134 |
| CRISPR Therapeutics AG | Strong · 503 | Strong · 270 | Moderate · 132 | Moderate · 221 | Moderate · 196 |
| Pairwise Plants Services Inc. | Strong · 415 | Strong · 329 | Absent | Moderate · 139 | Absent |
| Editas Medicine Inc. | Strong · 421 | Strong · 263 | Absent | Absent | Emerging · 74 |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 17,590 patent families in scope. This represents global filings tracked across major jurisdictions including the United States, WIPO PCT, and the European Patent Office.
The Regents of the University of California leads with 3,953 patent records, followed by Harvard University with 3,653, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals with 3,263, MIT with 3,262, and the Broad Institute with 3,119.
The field is in a Maturity stage. Annual filing volume peaked around 2022 and has plateaued since. The most recent years (2024–2025) show very low counts that are primarily an artifact of the 18–24 month patent publication lag and should not be read as a contraction.
The Broad Institute and MIT are the most active co-filing pair with 1,237 jointly filed patent records. The Broad Institute and Harvard follow with 853, and MIT and Harvard with 590. On the commercial side, CRISPR Therapeutics and Bayer co-filed on 74 records, and Intellia Therapeutics and Novartis on 54.
The United States leads with 6,952 patent records, followed by WIPO PCT with 4,700, and the European Patent Office with 3,934. Australia and Canada form a secondary English-language coverage tier.
Plant breeding (A01H) at approximately two percent of the corpus and DNA-based diagnostics and detection (C12Q) at approximately four percent are the most notable adjacent branches with lower filing density relative to the dominant C12N genetic engineering core. Animal husbandry (A01K) and bioinformatics (G16B) are also sparse. These are observations of relative sparsity and require technical and commercial validation before being treated as investment opportunities.
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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.
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