GalNAc Conjugation Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
GalNAc and Extrahepatic Conjugation Patents
32.1% of all activity sits with five assignees. 1,363 of the 4,250 records in scope trace to the top five filers, with a long tail of single- and double-digit filers behind them. Filings rose from 135 in 2017 to a peak of 362 in 2022, then held roughly flat — 329 in 2021 versus 324 in 2024, a -2% change across that span. The 2025–2026 figures are still filling in under the publication lag and should not be read as a decline.
- 1IONIS PHARMACEUTICALS INC12.3%
- 2MODERNATX INC10.4%
- 3MODERNA THERAPEUTICS INC3.7%
- 4ORNA THERAPEUTICS INC2.9%
- 5SAPREME TECH BV2.7%
See the full galnac and extrahepatic conjugation 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 GalNAc conjugation patents
Who holds the foundational GalNAc conjugate patents?
The most-cited record in this corpus, US8106022B2, covers carbohydrate conjugates as delivery agents for oligonucleotides and has been cited 1,093 times, making it the closest thing to a foundational reference in the field. A related family, WO2009073809A2, covers the same subject matter and carries 750 citations. Both sit among a small group of highly cited filings that any new entrant’s freedom-to-operate review should check first, since later conjugate patents tend to build on the linker and ligand chemistry these establish.
Is GalNAc conjugation patent filing still growing in 2026?
Filing volume peaked at 362 in 2022 and has since roughly held steady rather than kept climbing — 2021’s 329 filings compare to 324 in 2024, a -2% change over that span, which is the last window with complete publication data. Figures for 2025 and 2026 in the raw trend look lower still, but that reflects the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication rather than an actual drop-off. Treat the field as mature and steady rather than either booming or shrinking.
How concentrated is ownership of GalNAc and extrahepatic delivery patents?
Fairly concentrated at the top: the five leading assignees together hold 1,363 of the 4,250 records in scope, or 32.1%, and the top ten extend that to 43.9%. Below that the ranking of 100 assignees thins out quickly into single- and double-digit filers, including university groups and specialty-conjugate startups. A new entrant should expect to negotiate around or design around the leader’s estate specifically, since it alone accounts for far more records than the next several competitors combined.
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 GalNAc and Extrahepatic Conjugation 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.