Industrial Enzyme Immobilization Patents: Leaders & Trends 2026
- 22.9% concentration at the top. The five most active assignees together hold 545 of 2,375 records in scope — a concentrated core sitting above a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants.
- Growth cooled, not collapsed. Filings ran 103 in 2021 down to 64 in 2024, a 38% decline over that span, after peaking at 114 in 2022 — publication lag means 2025-2026 figures will still fill in.
- Fermentation claims rival microorganism claims. C12P (fermentation & enzymatic synthesis) appears in 42.9% of records versus 62.4% for the broader C12N class, showing biocatalytic process claims are nearly as dense as organism-level claims.
Filing growth compares 2021 (103 records) with 2024 (64) — 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 2,375 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This landscape maps 2,375 patent records published between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine enzyme immobilization or industrial biocatalysis language with terms describing supports, operational stability, substrate specificity, reactor configuration, enzyme cost or downstream recovery. The scope favours records where immobilization is a working part of the claimed invention, not a passing reference in a biotech filing that covers something else entirely. Patent families, not raw document counts, are the fairer unit here because they neutralise continuation filings and multi-jurisdiction duplication.
Filing activity is spread across major receiving offices, with the United States, the European Patent Office and the WIPO PCT route accounting for the largest volumes, followed by India, Japan and Canada. The IPC composition shows the field sits at the intersection of microorganism and genetic engineering work, fermentation process claims, and a smaller but persistent cluster of bioreactor and apparatus claims — a signal that hardware-level innovation around immobilization supports has not been crowded out by biological claims.
Let an AI agent run this analysis on your own technology
Pick a task. Every answer cites the patents behind it.
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 2,375-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how records distribute across IPC subclasses.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose from 91 in 2017 to a peak of 114 in 2022, then eased to 64 by 2024 — a 38% decline over the 2021-2024 span. The most recent two years are undercounted because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months; treat 2025 and 2026 as still filling in rather than as evidence of a further slide.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) touches 62.4% of records and C12P (fermentation and enzymatic synthesis) touches 42.9%, confirming that most activity is biological-process claims rather than pure apparatus claims. Smaller shares in C12M (bioreactors and enzyme apparatus, 7.5%) and C07H (sugars and nucleic acids, 4.5%) mark narrower but still active claim territories. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, these shares sum to well over 100% of the 2,375-record base and should be read individually, not added together.
Shares are the percentage of the 2,375 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Industrial Enzyme Immobilization and Biocatalysis with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about industrial enzyme immobilization and biocatalysis and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a recent representative filing
Enzyme immobilization carrier and preparation method therefor, immobilized enzyme and preparation method therefor, and use thereof
The filing describes an enzyme immobilization carrier built from a resin matrix modified with a divinyl sulfone group attached by a covalent bond, intended to enable directed immobilization. The divinyl sulfone group binds specifically to a histidine tag, connecting the carrier to a defined amino acid residue on the enzyme molecule rather than immobilizing it through non-specific adsorption.Filed by Asymchem Laboratories (Fuxin) Co. Ltd., published 2026-05-07 — one of the most recent records in scope, illustrating continued interest in site-directed rather than random immobilization chemistry.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WO2009067279A1 | Production of peracids using an enzyme having perhydrolysis activity | 804 |
| 2 | US20090062767A1 | Combined sensor and infusion set using separated sites | 755 |
| 3 | US20070227907A1 | Methods and materials for controlling the electrochemistry of analyte sensors | 409 |
| 4 | WO2013022989A2 | Recombinant production of steviol glycosides | 402 |
| 5 | US20110240064A1 | Polymeric Coatings Incorporating Bioactive Enzymes for Cleaning a Surface | 292 |
| 6 | US20070135698A1 | Biosensors and methods for making and using them | 280 |
| 7 | US20080176299A1 | Production of peracids using an enzyme having perhydrolysis activity | 268 |
| 8 | US20120097194A1 | Polymeric Coatings Incorporating Bioactive Enzymes for Catalytic Function | 250 |
| 9 | US5405766A | Immobilization of biologically active protein on a support with a 7-18 carbon spacer and a bifunctional phosp… | 236 |
| 10 | WO1988002775A1 | Positionally non-specific lipase from candida sp, a method for producing it, its use and a recombinant DNA pr… | 233 |
Citation counts reward older records that have had more time to accumulate references; read them as a signal of influence within this corpus, not as a ranking of present-day importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for R&D and IP strategy
Three patterns stand out once the raw counts are set against each other: where claim density sits, how growth has actually moved, and where filing geography points.
A concentrated core, not a monopoly
The five most active assignees combined account for 545 of the 2,375 records in scope, or 22.9% of the field. That leaves more than three-quarters of filings distributed across a long tail of entrants, including the 100 companies covered in the full ranked list — this is a field with a visible leadership cluster but plenty of room for new entrants to stake out claims.
Post-peak cooling, with a caveat
Filings peaked at 114 in 2022 and fell to 64 by 2024, a 38% decline over the 2021-2024 window. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the 2025-2026 numbers in the trend chart are still incomplete and should not be read as confirmation the decline continues.
Process claims nearly match organism claims
C12N covers 62.4% of the 2,375 records and C12P covers 42.9%, meaning fermentation and enzymatic-synthesis process claims are almost as common as broader microorganism and genetic-engineering claims. Apparatus-level claims under C12M sit far behind at 7.5%, suggesting reactor and hardware design is comparatively less contested than the biology and chemistry around it.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to industrial enzyme immobilization and biocatalysis, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the field is still open
The ranked leaders sit atop a much larger group of occasional filers. Recent-year momentum figures show even some ranked leaders have slowed to single-digit annual filings, which is consistent with the field-wide cooling after 2022 rather than any one company's retreat.
The top-ranked assignee
The leading assignee holds 304 records, well ahead of fifth place at 57 and tenth place at 37 — a steep drop-off that marks a genuine leadership gap rather than a tightly bunched top tier.
A shallow drop into the tail
Between fifth place (57 records) and tenth place (37 records), volumes fall by well under half, but the tenth-place count is still a fraction of the leader's 304 — most of the 100 ranked companies file at a much smaller scale.
Even leaders are pulling back
Recent-year momentum data shows some ranked leaders filing zero records in the latest year and others down sharply year over year, including one leader down 89% YoY to a single filing. This tracks the broader post-2022 cooling rather than signalling an exit from the field.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Novozymes A/S | 2 | — |
| Codexis Inc. | 1 | -89% |
| Trans Bio Diesel Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Max Planck Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Wissenschaften eV | 0 | -100% |
| Medtronic MiniMed Inc. | 0 | — |
| Sumitomo Pharma America Inc. | 0 | — |
| Evolva SA | 0 | — |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 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 acquisition targets.
Check freedom-to-operate against the leadership cluster
With 22.9% of records held by five assignees, any new immobilization support or carrier chemistry should be checked against that cluster's claims before development proceeds far.
Run a claim comparisonWatch the 2025-2026 filing years fill in
Because publication lags filing by about 18 months, the apparent post-2022 decline needs re-checking once the most recent two years of records catch up.
Track filing trendsProbe the under-claimed apparatus branch
C12M bioreactor and apparatus claims sit at 7.5% of records, well behind the biological classes — a narrower field to search before filing hardware-level claims.
Explore white spaceCommon questions about this landscape
The assignee ranking for this dataset covers 100 companies across 2,375 records, with the leading assignee alone holding 304 records — far ahead of the fifth-ranked assignee at 57 and the tenth at 37. That gap indicates a genuine leadership position rather than a tightly clustered top tier. Beyond the top ten, filing volume drops off quickly into a long tail of companies with only a handful of records each, so freedom-to-operate work should prioritise the leaders first before searching further down the list.
Filings rose from 91 in 2017 to a peak of 114 in 2022, then declined to 64 by 2024 — a 38% drop over that three-year span. However, patent publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, so the 2025 and 2026 figures in any trend chart are still incomplete and will rise as more records publish. It is more accurate to describe the field as past its 2022 peak and cooling than as being in ongoing decline, until later years are confirmed complete.
C12N, covering microorganisms and genetic engineering, appears in 62.4% of the 2,375 records in scope, making it the single most common classification. C12P, covering fermentation and enzymatic synthesis, follows at 42.9%, showing that process-level biocatalysis claims are nearly as common as organism-level ones. Apparatus and bioreactor claims under C12M are comparatively rare at 7.5%, suggesting hardware design around immobilization is less contested than the underlying biology and chemistry.
The technology composition data shows apparatus-level claims (C12M, bioreactors and enzyme apparatus) sit at only 7.5% of records and sugar/nucleic-acid-adjacent claims (C07H) at 4.5%, both well behind the dominant biological classes. This suggests narrower, more open claim territory around reactor configuration, carrier reuse, and multi-enzyme co-immobilization systems compared with the densely claimed microorganism and fermentation space. A first claim in these areas would need to specify a concrete mechanical or process configuration rather than a broad biological composition to stand apart from the crowded core.
The United States leads with 619 records, followed by the European Patent Office at 392 and the WIPO PCT route at 270. India, Japan and Canada follow with 150, 140 and 131 records respectively. This distribution suggests the US and Europe remain the primary markets for enforcement and competitive filing, while the PCT volume indicates many applicants are still pursuing broad international protection before committing to specific national phases.
Research Industrial Enzyme Immobilization and Biocatalysis in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole industrial enzyme immobilization and biocatalysis corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
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.