Insulin Delivery Device Patent Landscape 2026
Insulin Delivery Device Patent Landscape in 2026
The insulin delivery device patent space is highly concentrated, with DexCom, Medtronic MiniMed, and Abbott Diabetes Care collectively anchoring the top tier across 8,680 patent families. Annual volume peaked in 2021 and has eased since, placing the field in a mature, post-peak phase even as the multi-year base remains substantial.
DexCom leads a tightly held, US-centric patent corpus
DexCom is the single largest filer by a clear margin, followed by Medtronic MiniMed and Abbott Diabetes Care. The top five filers together account for 49% of the combined patent records held by the hundred largest filers, signalling a field where a small number of incumbents control the bulk of documented innovation.
The tier gap between rank one and rank five is substantial: DexCom’s record count is roughly three times that of the fifth-ranked Roche entity, indicating a two-tier structure — a dominant group of three to four US-headquartered specialists, followed by a mid-tier of device generalists and smaller diabetes-focused firms.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DexCom Inc | 3,272 | |
| 2 | Medtronic MiniMed Inc | 2,701 | |
| 3 | Abbott Diabetes Care Inc | 2,268 | |
| 4 | BECTON DICKINSON & CO | 1,503 | |
| 5 | F HOFFMANN LA ROCHE & CO AG | 1,090 | |
| 6 | DEKA Products Limited Partnership | 920 | |
| 7 | Insulet Corporation | 785 | |
| 8 | Roche Diabetes Care Inc | 655 | |
| 9 | Roche Diabetes Care GmbH | 562 | |
| 10 | Animas Corporation | 426 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Greatbatch Ltd | 396 | |
| 12 | Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH | 392 | |
| 13 | Medtronic Inc | 372 | |
| 14 | Tandem Diabetes Care Inc | 370 | |
| 15 | University of Virginia Patent Foundation | 362 | |
| 16 | Bigfoot Biomedical Inc | 327 | |
| 17 | Sotera Wireless Inc | 298 | |
| 18 | Novo Nordisk A/S | 229 | |
| 19 | Roche Diagnostics GmbH | 227 | |
| 20 | LifeScan Inc | 220 |
The leaders’ positions reflect deep, sustained investment in continuous glucose monitoring and closed-loop infusion, creating high citation density around foundational sensor and pump-control patents that new entrants would need to design around.
Filing counts for 2024 and 2025 are subject to publication lag and should be treated as incomplete; the apparent decline in those years does not necessarily reflect a further reduction in R&D activity. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Activity peaked in 2021; device and sensing classes dominate the technology mix
The annual filing trend and IPC composition together reveal a field that built rapidly through the late 2010s and crested in 2021, with hardware-centric classes still carrying the majority of filings while digital and connectivity branches have grown as a secondary layer.
Annual filing trend
Filings climbed from 2017 through a 2021 peak of 1,219 records, then retreated to the 900s in 2022–2023. Counts for 2024 onward are incomplete due to publication lag and should not be read as a sustained decline.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
Diagnosis and surgery (A61B) and devices for body fluids (A61M) together account for the two largest branches, reflecting the core sensor-and-infusion hardware focus. Healthcare informatics (G16H) ranks third, indicating meaningful investment in software-layer control and data management, while digital data processing (G06F), material analysis (G01N), and electrotherapy (A61N) form a mid-tier of adjacent branches with lower but non-trivial coverage.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
SYSTEM ZUR EINSTELLUNG DES BLUTZUCKERSPIEGELS EINE…
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | External infusion device with remote programming, … | 2,877 |
| 2 | Subcutaneous glucose electrode | 2,642 |
| 3 | Diabetes management system and method for controll… | 2,540 |
| 4 | External infusion device with remote programming, … | 2,511 |
| 5 | Wearable, self-contained drug infusion device | 2,282 |
| 6 | Diabetes management system and method for controll… | 2,242 |
| 7 | Subcutaneous glucose electrode | 2,239 |
| 8 | Integrated delivery device for continuous glucose … | 2,228 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the structure means for R&D investment decisions
Four structural observations shape the investment calculus for any team considering entry or expansion in insulin delivery devices: the field’s maturity stage, its concentration profile, the collaboration network, and its geographic footprint.
Post-peak field: consolidation phase underway
The lifecycle stage is characterized as Decline — annual filings have eased back from the 2021 peak. The multi-year corpus of 8,680 patent families reflects decades of accumulated prior art. New entrants face a dense freedom-to-operate landscape; incremental hardware improvements are harder to differentiate, shifting R&D value toward software-layer and algorithmic claims.
Lifecycle: post-peakTop five command nearly half of the largest filers’ output
The top five filers hold 49% of the patent records among the hundred largest filers, and the top three — DexCom, Medtronic MiniMed, and Abbott Diabetes Care — each maintain portfolios an order of magnitude larger than most mid-tier players. This concentration compresses the space available for undifferentiated hardware patents and favors either niche specialization or licensing strategies over broad platform plays.
High concentrationRoche entities dominate co-filing; academic links are selective
The most active co-filing relationship is between F. Hoffmann-La Roche and Roche Diagnostics (228 co-filed records), followed by F. Hoffmann-La Roche and Roche Diabetes Care (149 records) — reflecting intra-group portfolio coordination rather than open ecosystem collaboration. Abbott Diabetes Care co-filed with Cambridge Enterprise (17 records) and the University of Virginia Patent Foundation (7 records), indicating selective academic linkages. DexCom co-filed with the University of Padova (3 records).
Intra-group + selective academicUS filing dominance; limited Asian coverage creates a gap
The United States accounts for the single largest jurisdiction by patent records, followed by Europe via the EPO and WIPO PCT filings. Canada and Australia round out meaningful secondary jurisdictions. Japan, China, and South Korea each show minimal coverage despite being major medtech manufacturing markets, suggesting either deliberate geographic narrowing by incumbents or an uncontested space for Asian market-entry filings.
US-centric; Asia underweightedGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG | Roche Diagnostics Ltd | 228 |
| F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG | Roche Diabetes Care Inc | 149 |
| F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG | Roche Diabetes Care GmbH | 40 |
| Abbott Diabetes Care Inc | Cambridge Enterprise Limited | 17 |
| F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG | Roche Diagnostics Operations Inc | 8 |
| Medtronic MiniMed Inc | Pifamo Ltd | 7 |
| Abbott Diabetes Care Inc | University of Virginia Patent Foundation | 7 |
| Becton, Dickinson and Company | Pharmacia & Upjohn LLC | 5 |
| F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG | Medingo Ltd | 5 |
| DexCom Inc | University of Padova | 3 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
DexCom and Medtronic MiniMed set the pace; Abbott is the only top-three filer growing
The top two players are pulling back on filing rate while Abbott Diabetes Care and Insulet are the standout growers among the leading group, suggesting a potential shift in the competitive balance over the next filing cycle.
DexCom Inc
DexCom holds the largest portfolio with 3,272 patent records, concentrated heavily in diagnosis and surgery (A61B 5, 2,682 records) with a secondary layer in healthcare informatics (G16H 40 and G16H 20). Its recent filing momentum shows a 24% decline versus the prior period, consistent with the broader field’s post-peak trajectory rather than any unique retrenchment.
patent records: 3,272Abbott Diabetes Care Inc
Abbott ranks third overall with 2,268 patent records and is the only major player among the top three posting positive recent momentum at plus 23% versus the prior period. Its focus spans diagnosis and surgery (A61B 5, 1,498 records), devices for body fluids (A61M 5, 354 records), and healthcare informatics (G16H 40, 288 records), closely mirroring DexCom’s profile — making it the most direct competitive threat to the leader’s position.
patent records: 2,268| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| DexCom Inc | 484 | ▼ -24% |
| Medtronic MiniMed Inc | 208 | ▼ -52% |
| Abbott Diabetes Care Inc | 251 | ▲ +23% |
| Becton, Dickinson and Company | 86 | ▼ -57% |
| DEKA Products Limited Partnership | 83 | ▼ -34% |
| Insulet Corporation | 209 | ▲ +19% |
| F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG | 23 | ▼ -42% |
| Bigfoot Biomedical Inc | 65 | ▼ -39% |
Under-served branches adjacent to the core hardware focus
Several IPC branches appear at lower relative share within the corpus despite clear technical relevance to next-generation insulin delivery. These are observations of relative sparsity; whether they represent actionable entry points depends on each team’s technical capabilities and regulatory context.
A61N · Electrotherapy & radiation therapy
This branch holds 1,775 patent records — roughly 4% of the IPC-tagged corpus — despite direct relevance to transdermal and electroporation-assisted drug delivery as alternatives or complements to needle-based infusion. The sparse coverage relative to the dominant A61B and A61M classes suggests that active delivery modalities beyond traditional subcutaneous injection remain under-explored by the leading players. Teams with competencies in electrostimulation or iontophoresis could find differentiated claim space here.
Search this in Eureka →G06N · Computing based on AI models
With 270 patent records, the AI and machine-learning computing branch is among the lowest-coverage classes in the corpus relative to the field’s increasing reliance on algorithmic glucose prediction and closed-loop dosing decisions. Given that healthcare informatics (G16H) already carries a meaningful share of filings, the gap in G06N specifically suggests that AI-model architecture claims — as distinct from application-level control logic — are underrepresented. This is an adjacent branch worth monitoring, particularly as regulatory pathways for AI-driven insulin dosing algorithms mature.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ by technology route
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | A61B 5 · Diagnosis & surgery | A61M 5 · Devices for body fluids | G16H 20 · Healthcare informatics | G16H 40 · Healthcare informatics | A61N 1 · Electrotherapy & radiation therapy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DexCom Inc | Strong · 2,682 | Emerging · 355 | Emerging · 400 | Moderate · 552 | Absent |
| Medtronic MiniMed Inc | Strong · 960 | Strong · 1,584 | Moderate · 500 | Moderate · 336 | Emerging · 71 |
| Abbott Diabetes Care Inc | Strong · 1,498 | Moderate · 354 | Emerging · 234 | Emerging · 288 | Absent |
| Insulet Corporation | Moderate · 168 | Strong · 455 | Strong · 229 | Moderate · 141 | Absent |
| DEKA Products Limited Partnership | Moderate · 187 | Strong · 593 | Emerging · 94 | Emerging · 79 | Absent |
| Bigfoot Biomedical Inc | Strong · 210 | Strong · 346 | Strong · 218 | Moderate · 148 | Absent |
| Becton, Dickinson and Company | Absent | Strong · 875 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 8,680 patent families in scope. The applicant ranking is based on patent records, which can exceed the family count because a single family may generate filings across multiple jurisdictions.
DexCom Inc is the largest filer by patent records, followed by Medtronic MiniMed Inc and Abbott Diabetes Care Inc. These three players together account for a disproportionate share of activity among the top hundred filers.
Annual filing volume peaked in 2021 and has eased since, placing the field in a post-peak phase. The most recent years (2024–2025) show further reduction, but those figures are incomplete due to publication lag and should not be treated as definitive.
The United States accounts for the largest number of patent records, followed by Europe via the EPO and WIPO PCT filings. Canada and Australia are meaningful secondary jurisdictions. Japan, China, and South Korea each show very limited coverage.
Abbott Diabetes Care and Insulet Corporation are the standout growers among the top filers, with recent filing momentum of plus 23% and plus 19% respectively versus the prior period. Medtronic MiniMed, Becton Dickinson, and DEKA Products show the steepest declines, at minus 52%, minus 57%, and minus 34% respectively.
Relative to the dominant sensing and infusion hardware classes, electrotherapy and radiation therapy (A61N) and AI-model computing (G06N) show notably lower patent-record coverage despite clear technical relevance to next-generation delivery and closed-loop dosing. These are observations of relative sparsity, not confirmed commercial white spaces.
Ready to map your own insulin delivery device landscape?
Join 18,000+ innovators using PatSnap Eureka to map any technology landscape: search 2B+ patents and papers, surface key assignees, and generate a report like this in minutes.
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.