Glycan Analysis Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Glycan Analysis and Glycoengineering Patents: Mapping the Field
Concentration at the top. The five most active filers account for 298 of 622 records in scope (47.9%), with a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants behind them. Annual filings peaked at 87 in 2017, the field's high-water mark. More recently, filings among the leading assignee rose from 10 in 2021 to 13 in 2024, a 30% increase over that three-year span — the clearest recent-growth signal the data supports, since 2025 and 2026 are still filling in under publication lag.
- 1AMGEN INC103
- 2AMICUS THERAPEUTICS INC66
- 3MEDICAGO INC56
- 4WATERS TECHNOLOGY CORP43
- 5F HOFFMANN LA ROCHE & CO AG30
See the full glycan analysis and glycoengineering 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 on this landscape
Who holds the most patents in glycan analysis and glycoengineering?
One assignee leads with 103 of the 622 records in scope, more than three times the fifth-place count of 30. The top five combined account for 47.9% of all records, and the top ten account for 63.7%. Beyond that, filing spreads across a long tail of 94 ranked companies, most holding only a handful of records each, so the field is concentrated at the top but not closed to new entrants further down.
Is patent filing in this field growing or slowing down?
Filings by the leading assignee grew 30% from 2021 (10 records) to 2024 (13 records), which is the most recent period that can be read reliably. The field’s overall filing count peaked in 2017 at 87 records; more recent years, including 2025 and 2026, will read as lower simply because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, not because activity has genuinely stopped. Treat the last one to two years of any chart as incomplete rather than as a slowdown.
What technology areas dominate glycan analysis patent claims?
C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) covers the largest share at 44.7% of the 622 records, with G01N (material analysis and testing) close behind at 40.7% and C07K (peptides and proteins) at 33.9%. These shares overlap because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, and that overlap itself is meaningful: it shows that engineering and measurement claims are frequently bundled in the same filing rather than pursued as separate, narrower patents.
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 Glycan Analysis and Glycoengineering 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.