Lipid Nanoparticle Vaccine Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Concentrated at the top. The five leading assignees hold 61.2% of all 165 records in scope, and the leading ten hold 83.0% — a small group controls most of the documented formulation and delivery claims.
- Filing has cooled from its 2023 peak. Records ran from 35 in 2021 to 30 in 2024, a -14% shift, after a 2023 peak of 41; 2025-26 figures are still filling in as publications catch up with filings.
- A61K dominates almost every record. 95.8% of the 165 records carry an A61K medicinal-preparation class, while nanotechnology-specific B82Y classification appears in only 10.9% — most claims are written as formulations, not as nanostructures.
Filing growth compares 2021 (35 records) with 2024 (30) — 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 165 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this patent set covers
This landscape draws on 165 published records filed between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine lipid nanoparticle or ionizable lipid formulation language with process and stability terms such as encapsulation efficiency, microfluidic mixing and storage temperature. That search construction captures the formulation and manufacturing layer of LNP vaccine delivery, not general nucleic-acid vaccine claims or unrelated lipid drug-delivery work.
Records are drawn from six main receiving offices, led by WIPO/PCT filings, with the United States, Europe, Australia, Canada and Israel following. The mix indicates that most applicants are seeking broad multi-jurisdiction protection through the PCT route before committing to national phase, consistent with a field where formulation claims are still being tested for scope.
Filing trend and technology composition
The two views below use the full 165-record set: one tracks publication activity by year, the other breaks records down by IPC subclass. Because a single record can carry several IPC classes, the composition shares add up to more than 100% of the record total.
Publications by year, 2017-2026
Filings rose from zero in 2017 to a peak of 41 in 2023, then eased to 30 in 2024 (a -14% move from the 2021 level of 35). 2025 and 2026 are shown as reported, but publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so those two years will fill in further and should not yet be read as a decline.
Records by IPC subclass
A61K (medicinal preparations) appears on 95.8% of the 165 records, confirming that most claims are framed as pharmaceutical formulations. A61P (therapeutic activity) and C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) follow at 45.5% and 33.3%, reflecting the mRNA and antigen-encoding payloads these formulations carry. Nanotechnology-specific classification (B82Y) sits at just 10.9%, and analytical/testing classification (G01N) at 5.5% — both comparatively thin given how central particle characterisation is to this field.
Shares are the percentage of the 165 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Lipid Nanoparticle Vaccine Delivery with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about lipid nanoparticle vaccine delivery and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a representative filing
WO2023019181A1 — SARS-COV-2 lipid nanoparticle vaccine formulations
Stabilized formulations of lipids and nucleic acids, including lipid nanoparticle formulations which encapsulate nucleic acids encoding a SARS-CoV-2 prefusion stabilized spike (S) protein are disclosed herein. Methods of using the formulations are also provided.Filed by Moderna, published 2023-02-16 — filed during the period of highest recorded activity for this dataset.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WO2015130584A2 | Lipid nanoparticle vaccine adjuvants and antigen delivery systems | 414 |
| 2 | US20160361411A1 | Lipid nanoparticle vaccine adjuvants and antigen delivery systems | 97 |
| 3 | US20200254086A1 | Efficacious mRNA vaccines | 90 |
| 4 | WO2019036670A2 | Efficacious mRNA vaccines | 89 |
| 5 | WO2023019181A1 | SARS-COV-2 lipid nanoparticle vaccine formulations | 37 |
| 6 | WO2022081750A1 | Ionizable lipids and methods of manufacture and use thereof | 36 |
| 7 | US20220218622A1 | Ionizable lipids and methods of manufacture and use thereof | 19 |
| 8 | US20220016234A1 | Anti covid-19 therapies using nucleocapsid and spike proteins | 16 |
| 9 | WO2021183665A1 | Treatment of covid-19 and methods therefor | 14 |
| 10 | WO2024138121A2 | Lipid nanoparticles for delivery of nucleic acids and vaccine for the prevention of tuberculosis or other myc… | 9 |
Citation counts favour older records simply because they have had more time to accumulate them inside this corpus — treat them as a signal of influence on the field, not of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns stand out once the data is read against the field's own denominators rather than in isolation.
A small group holds most of the claim space
The five leading assignees account for 61.2% of all 165 records, and the leading ten account for 83.0%. New entrants filing broad formulation claims are filing into ground already covered by a handful of organisations, which raises the bar for claim breadth even where the underlying chemistry differs.
Activity has eased from its 2023 peak, not collapsed
Filings peaked at 41 in 2023 and eased to 30 by 2024, a -14% move from the 2021 level of 35. Recent-year figures for several leading assignees show sharp year-on-year drops, but 2025-26 records are still incomplete because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months.
Formulation framing dominates over nanostructure framing
Almost every record is classed under A61K as a medicinal preparation, but only 10.9% also carry a B82Y nanotechnology class and just 5.5% carry G01N analytical/testing classification. Claims describing particle characterisation and analytical methods are comparatively rare relative to formulation composition claims.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to lipid nanoparticle vaccine delivery, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where activity is slowing
The ranking covers 46 companies returned by the data endpoint — the whole ranking, not a top-50 or top-100 cut. Activity is heavily front-loaded: the leader holds 42 records, fifth place holds 9, and tenth place holds 6, a steep drop-off after the top few names.
One assignee well ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 42 of the 165 records in scope, well clear of fifth place at 9 and tenth place at 6. That gap suggests a dominant filer with sustained programme investment rather than a cluster of comparably sized competitors.
University-industry co-filing is concentrated in one pairing
The strongest co-assignee link in the dataset covers 13 shared records between a university and a research partner, well ahead of the next strongest pairing at 5. Co-assignment activity overall is limited to 10 identified pairs across the full dataset.
Several top filers have gone quiet in the most recent year
Multiple assignees among the leading filers show 0 records or steep year-on-year declines in the latest reported year. Given the 18-month publication lag, this is likely to reflect incomplete data rather than an actual pullback in R&D activity.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Akagera Medicines Inc | 2 | -80% |
| The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania | 0 | -100% |
| George Mason University | 0 | -100% |
| ImmunityBio Inc | 0 | -100% |
| Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC | 0 | — |
| The Scripps Research Institute | 0 | — |
| ModernaTX Inc | 0 | — |
| Tidal Therapeutics Inc | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The figures above establish where claim density sits today. Turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate position means working through the specific claims, not just the counts.
Map claim scope against the leading assignees
The concentration figures show where filing volume sits, but not which specific claim elements are blocking. A claim-by-claim comparison against the top holders clarifies what is actually occupied versus merely adjacent.
Explore assignee claims in EurekaTrack the under-claimed branches as they mature
Thin classification in analytical methods and nanostructure-specific claims does not mean the space stays open — it means it has not been claimed yet. Monitoring new filings into these branches early is cheaper than reacting after they fill in.
Set up monitoring in EurekaCommon questions about LNP vaccine delivery patents
One assignee leads the ranked field with 42 of the 165 records in scope, well ahead of fifth place at 9 records and tenth place at 6. The top five assignees combined hold 61.2% of all records, and the top ten hold 83.0%, so filing activity is heavily concentrated rather than spread evenly across the 46 companies in the ranking. Anyone assessing freedom to operate should start with the leading few names before looking at the long tail.
Filing activity peaked at 41 records in 2023 and eased to 30 by 2024, a -14% change from the 2021 level of 35 — a cooling from the peak rather than sustained growth, based on the years that are complete. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still low, but that reflects the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication rather than an actual drop in R&D activity. It is too early to read the most recent two years as a trend in either direction.
Almost all records, 95.8% of the 165 in scope, carry an A61K medicinal-preparations classification, since most claims are written as pharmaceutical formulations. A61P (therapeutic activity) appears on 45.5% and C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) on 33.3%, reflecting the nucleic-acid payloads these lipid systems deliver. Nanotechnology-specific classification under B82Y appears on only 10.9% of records, which is a smaller share than the formulation-focused classes despite particle structure being central to LNP performance.
WO2023019181A1 covers stabilized lipid and nucleic-acid formulations, including lipid nanoparticle formulations that encapsulate nucleic acids encoding a SARS-CoV-2 prefusion-stabilized spike protein, along with methods of using those formulations. It is one of the more recent highly-cited filings in this dataset, published in February 2023 during the field's peak filing year. Anyone designing a competing SARS-CoV-2 or related spike-antigen LNP formulation should review its specific stabilization and encapsulation claim language directly rather than relying on the abstract alone.
The classification data points to analytical and characterisation methods (G01N, 5.5% of records) and nanostructure-specific claiming (B82Y, 10.9% of records) as comparatively thin relative to the 95.8% formulation-class coverage under A61K. Process-level claims around lipid impurity control, storage-temperature stability and microfluidic mixing parameters also appear less densely claimed than the core lipid-composition and encapsulation claims. These are not guaranteed open space, but they are areas where the documented claim density is lower than the field's overall filing volume would suggest.
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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.