Formulation for Novel Modalities Patents: Stability, Excipients and Delivery Claims
One assignee holds 127 of the 177 records in scope, while the remaining ranked leaders sit far behind — fifth place has 5, tenth place has just 1. Filings ran from 8 in 2017 to a peak of 25 in 2022, then to 19 in 2024 — the last year the trend can be treated as complete. The 2021-to-2024 span alone shows +171% growth (7 to 19). 2025 and 2026 figures (5 in 2026) are still filling in under publication lag and should not be read as a slowdown.
- 1AMBRX INC127
- 2GENENTECH INC20
- 3ARRAY BIOPHARMA INC19
- 4SISAF LTD6
- 5NOVARTIS AG5
See the full formulation for novel modalities analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Common questions about this landscape
What counts as a 'novel modality' in this patent landscape?
In this dataset, novel modalities means antibody drug conjugates, lipid nanoparticles and nucleic acid formulations — biologic and genetic-medicine formats where formulation stability, not target biology, is the technical bottleneck. The search scope specifically pairs these modality terms with stability and compatibility concepts such as payload-driven instability, surfactant interaction, buffer selection, frozen-liquid stability, excipient compatibility and container closure choice. It excludes general small-molecule formulation patents that do not reference one of these modalities.
Who are the leading patent filers in antibody drug conjugate and LNP formulation?
The ranking of 42 assignees shows a single filer well ahead of the rest, holding 127 of the 177 records in scope, with the fifth-ranked assignee holding 5 records and the tenth-ranked holding 1. This is a leader-plus-long-tail structure rather than a broad competitive field. Anyone assessing freedom-to-operate should treat the leading assignee's portfolio as the primary reference point before looking further down the ranking.
Is patent filing activity in this space growing or slowing?
Filings grew substantially between 2021 and 2024, from 7 to 19 records, a 171% increase, with a peak year of 25 filings in 2022. The apparent drop in 2025 and 2026 figures should not be read as a genuine slowdown — publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so those years are still incomplete. 2024 is the most recent year that can be treated as a reliable data point.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Formulation for Novel Modalities covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.