Filamentous Fungi Cofactor Engineering Patents: Leaders & Gaps 2026
- 63.4% concentration. The top 5 assignees hold 59 of 93 records in scope — a small group controls most of the documented redox and cofactor-recycling claims.
- Flat filing activity. 2021 to 2024 filings held at 4 per year, 0% growth over that span — the field has stopped expanding at the pace it showed at its 2018 peak of 7.
- C12P and C12Q underused together. Fermentation synthesis (55.9%) and enzyme/DNA measurement (31.2%) claims rarely overlap with therapeutic-use classes (A61K, A61P each 11.8%), leaving translational applications thin.
Filing growth compares 2021 (4 records) with 2024 (4) — 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 93 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this patent set covers
This landscape tracks 93 published records filed against filamentous fungus or recombinant fungal host cells where the claims address NADH/NADPH balance, redox ratio control, cofactor recycling or electron transfer. The scope is defined by the intersection of fungal-host language with cofactor-management terms, filtered to C12N15/80, C12N1/14 and C12Q1/68 — the classification core for fungal genetic engineering and enzymatic assay work.
Coverage runs from 2015 through the mid-2026 data cut-off. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the last one to two years in any trend understate real filing activity and should be read as provisional rather than declining.
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Filing trend and technology mix
Two views of the same 93 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claims.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings peaked at 7 in 2018 and have since settled into a lower, flatter band; the 2021-to-2024 window is flat at 4 filings per year (0% change), and 2025-2026 figures will rise as later publications land.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) touches 91.4% of the 93 records and C12P (fermentation and enzymatic synthesis) touches 55.9%, confirming this is primarily a host-engineering and bioprocess field; measurement (C12Q, 31.2%) and therapeutic classes (A61K, A61P, each 11.8%) are present but secondary, and records can carry more than one class so these shares overlap.
Shares are the percentage of the 93 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Filamentous Fungi Cofactor Engineering with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about filamentous fungi cofactor engineering and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited prior art
A recombinant filamentous fungus for producing ethanol and its construction and application (US20230053729A1)
Discloses a construction method for genetically engineered filamentous fungi that overexpress positive regulators of ethanol synthesis and/or down-regulate negative regulators of endogenous ethanol synthesis. Routes include overexpression of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase and ethanol dehydrogenase carrying mitochondrial localization signal sequences, or overexpression of pyruvate decarboxylase together with ethanol dehydrogenase, aimed at redirecting cofactor flux toward ethanol output.Filed by Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences — published 2023-02-23.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WO2006009434A1 | Metabolic engineering of xylose fermenting eukaryotic cells | 312 |
| 2 | WO2001064864A2 | Single-stranded nucleic acid template-mediated recombination and nucleic acid fragment isolation | 161 |
| 3 | US20080261287A1 | Metabolic Engineering of Xylos Fermentation | 35 |
| 4 | US20060068406A1 | Single-stranded nucleic acid template-mediated recombination and nucleic acid fragment isolation | 35 |
| 5 | US8236551B2 | Compositions and methods for production of fermentable sugars | 32 |
| 6 | US8309328B1 | Compositions and methods for production of fermentable sugars | 27 |
| 7 | US20160130653A1 | Polynucleotide probe, method for detecting a target nucleic acid by using the same and kit comprising the same | 18 |
| 8 | WO2002046386A2 | Aspergillus ochraceus 11 alpha hydroxylase and oxidoreductase | 14 |
| 9 | US10947515B2 | UDP-glycosyltransferases | 11 |
| 10 | WO2012061382A1 | Improved fungal strains | 11 |
Citation counts favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations within the searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence, not of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns worth acting on before drafting new claims in this space.
Claim space is already crowded at the top
With 59 of 93 records held by five assignees, and 82.8% held by the top ten, freedom-to-operate searches in core cofactor-recycling claims should assume dense prior art from a small set of repeat filers rather than a fragmented field.
The field has plateaued, not accelerated
Filing activity held at 4 records per year across 2021-2024 after a 2018 peak of 7. That is a stable but non-expanding claim environment — new entrants are not being crowded out by rising volume, but they are entering a space with an established leader.
Therapeutic application claims are thin
Only 11.8% of the 93 records touch medicinal preparations (A61K) or therapeutic activity (A61P), against 55.9% in fermentation/enzymatic synthesis (C12P). Most protection sits in production-strain engineering, not in downstream therapeutic formulation.
Filing strategy centres on the US and PCT route
The United States (32) and WIPO/PCT (18) together account for the bulk of receiving-office activity, ahead of Europe (14), Canada (10), Australia (4) and India (4) — a pattern consistent with US-anchored prosecution followed by selective international extension.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to filamentous fungi cofactor engineering, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the field is still open
The ranked leaders cover 50 companies across the 93 records in scope; a handful of repeat filers account for most of the volume, and recent-year activity from several of the historically largest filers has gone quiet.
One filer sets the pace
The leading assignee holds 21 of the 93 records in scope, well ahead of fifth place at 6 and tenth place at 3 — a steep drop-off that marks this as a leader-plus-long-tail field rather than an evenly distributed one.
Many single- or few-filing entrants
Beyond the top ten, the ranking thins quickly into companies with only one or two records each. That long tail is where new entrants have historically tested narrow, specific claims rather than broad platform patents.
Some of the largest historic filers have gone quiet
Several assignees that built substantial portfolios earlier in the coverage window show zero filings in the most recent year tracked. Given the roughly 18-month publication lag, this may reflect filings still working through the pipeline rather than an actual exit from the space.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| DSM IP Assets B.V. | 0 | — |
| Codexis, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Pharmacia Corp | 0 | — |
| Delft University of Technology | 0 | — |
| Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) | 0 | — |
| Novozymes A/S | 0 | — |
| National Taiwan University | 0 | — |
| Radici Chimica S.p.A. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, portfolio strategy, or identifying a filing gap.
Run a freedom-to-operate check against the top 5
With 63.4% of records held by five assignees, any new filing on core NADH/NADPH balance or cofactor recycling claims should be checked against that group's granted claims before drafting.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaTest claims in the under-claimed sub-areas
Mitochondrial-targeted dehydrogenase fusions and redox-ratio biosensor methods show lower filing density than core fermentation claims — a narrower, well-drafted claim there faces less prior art.
Map white space in EurekaWatch for pipeline filings from quiet leaders
Several top-10 assignees show zero filings in the latest tracked year, which the 18-month publication lag makes hard to read as a real exit. Monitoring newly published applications from those names is worth setting up now.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaCommon questions on filamentous fungi cofactor engineering patents
One assignee leads with 21 of the 93 records in scope, a clear margin over fifth place at 6 records and tenth place at 3. The top 5 assignees together hold 59 records, or 63.4% of all records in scope, and the top 10 hold 82.8%. This means the field is concentrated at the top with a long tail of smaller filers behind the leaders rather than being evenly spread across many companies.
Filing activity peaked in 2018 at 7 records and has since settled lower, with the 2021-to-2024 window flat at 4 filings per year — 0% growth across that span. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025-2026 figures in any dataset will understate real activity and should not yet be read as a decline. The honest read is a plateaued field, not a growing or a shrinking one.
C12N, covering microorganisms and genetic engineering, appears in 91.4% of the 93 records in scope, making it the dominant classification. C12P, fermentation and enzymatic synthesis, follows at 55.9%, and C12Q, enzyme and DNA measurement methods, at 31.2%. Records can carry more than one class, so these figures overlap rather than sum to 100%, but together they show the field is anchored in host engineering and bioprocess rather than in downstream therapeutic use.
Therapeutic-use classes A61K and A61P each cover only 11.8% of the 93 records, well below the 55.9% share in fermentation and enzymatic synthesis, suggesting cofactor-engineering claims have not been heavily extended into medicinal or therapeutic formulation. Specific under-claimed branches include mitochondrial-targeted dehydrogenase fusions, NADPH supply engineering for therapeutic-protein-producing hosts, and redox-ratio biosensor assay methods. A first claim in any of these areas would likely face less prior art than one targeting core fermentation-strain redox balance, which is already densely filed by the leading assignees.
The United States receives the most filings among receiving offices tracked, at 32, followed by the WIPO/PCT route at 18 and Europe (EPO) at 14. Canada, Australia and India follow at 10, 4 and 4 respectively. This pattern is consistent with an initial US filing followed by selective international extension via PCT, rather than simultaneous multi-jurisdiction filing from the outset.
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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.