Pharmaceutical Cocrystals & Salt Form Patents: Leaders, Trends 2026
- 59.3% of all 354 records sit with just five assignees, so most freedom-to-operate risk in this field concentrates at the top rather than spreading across a long tail.
- Filings grew 133% from 18 in 2021 to 42 in 2024, the last year the dataset treats as complete — momentum is building, not fading.
- A61K and A61P dominate covering 82.8% and 53.4% of records respectively, while enzyme/DNA measurement (C12Q, 7.1%) and steroid chemistry (C07J, 2.5%) remain comparatively open.
Filing growth compares 2021 (18 records) with 2024 (42) — 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 354 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
Cocrystal and salt form engineering sits at the intersection of solid-state chemistry and drug development: choosing a coformer, controlling hydrogen-bonding networks, and proving humidity stability all feed into a regulatory classification that can determine whether a molecule is patentable as a new form. This dataset tracks 354 published records filed between 2015 and the 2026 cut-off, drawn from filings that explicitly claim coformer selection, solubility enhancement, mechanochemical synthesis or related solid-form techniques.
Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent years in any trend understate real filing activity — 2024 is the last year the data can be read as complete, and everything after it will keep filling in.
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 354-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings peaked at 76 in 2018, then settled into a lower but rising pattern; from 18 filings in 2021 to 42 in 2024 is a 133% increase over that three-year span, and the partial 2026 count (13 so far) will rise as later publications land.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
A61K (medicinal preparations) touches 82.8% of records and A61P (therapeutic activity) 53.4%, confirming the dataset centres on drug formulation rather than pure crystallography. Heterocyclic chemistry (C07D, 39.8%) and acyclic/carbocyclic compounds (C07C, 27.7%) carry most of the underlying chemistry claims, while material analysis (G01N, 8.2%), enzyme/DNA measurement (C12Q, 7.1%), sugars and nucleic acids (C07H, 2.8%) and steroids (C07J, 2.5%) are present but thin.
Shares are the percentage of the 354 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Pharmaceutical Cocrystals and Salt Forms with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about pharmaceutical cocrystals and salt forms and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a representative filing
US20210139528A1 — Crystalline forms of obeticholic acid
The crystalline forms of obeticholic acid and methods of preparation and use thereof are described.Filed by Intercept Pharmaceuticals, published 2021-05-13. Representative of claims that fix a specific crystalline form of an approved active rather than the underlying molecule itself.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20160313300A1 | Methods for determining drug efficacy for the treatment of diffuse large b-cell lymphoma, multiple myeloma, a… | 83 |
| 2 | WO2015085172A2 | Methods for determining drug efficacy for the treatment of diffuse large b-cell lymphoma, multiple myeloma, a… | 59 |
| 3 | US20080280858A1 | Method of creating crystalline substances | 34 |
| 4 | US8241371B2 | Method of creating crystalline substances | 29 |
| 5 | WO2016035006A1 | Novel nucleotide analogs, process for the preparation of sofosbuvir and its analogs, novel forms of sofosbuvi… | 25 |
| 6 | WO2012146371A1 | Pharmaceutically acceptable cocrystals of n-[2-(7-methoxy-1-naphtyl)ethyl]acetamide and methods of their prep… | 25 |
| 7 | WO2014160690A1 | Solid forms comprising 4-amino-2-(2.6-dioxopiperidine-3-YL) isoindoline-1,3-dione and a coformer, composition… | 23 |
| 8 | EP2517700A1 | Pharmaceutically acceptable cocrystals of N-[2-(7-methoxy-1-naphthyl]acetamide and methods of their preparati… | 23 |
| 9 | US9695146B2 | Solid forms comprising 4-amino-2-(2,6-dioxopiperidine-3-yl)isoindoline-1,3-dione and a coformer, compositions… | 20 |
| 10 | WO2011036676A2 | Stable cocrystals of temozolomide | 17 |
Citation counts favour older filings that have had more time to be cited within this searched corpus; treat them as a signal of influence, not of current technical importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns worth acting on before drafting a new cocrystal or salt-form application.
The field is top-heavy
Five assignees hold 210 of the 354 records in scope, and the leader alone accounts for 95. A new entrant filing broad coformer-selection claims is filing directly against occupied ground, not into open territory.
Activity is accelerating, not cooling
Filings rose from 18 in 2021 to 42 in 2024, the last year the trend can be read as complete. Read the softer-looking 2025-2026 figures as a publication-lag artefact rather than a genuine slowdown.
Claims cluster in formulation, not measurement
Medicinal-preparation claims (A61K) and therapeutic-activity claims (A61P) dominate, while material analysis (G01N, 8.2%) and enzyme/DNA testing (C12Q, 7.1%) subclasses carry far fewer filings — a gap between how forms are made and how their performance is verified.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to pharmaceutical cocrystals and salt forms, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| Les Laboratoires Servier | Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 6 |
| Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | INC A CALIFORNIA | 4 |
| Servier Pharmaceuticals LLC | MSD International Business GmbH | 2 |
| Servier Pharmaceuticals LLC | MSD International GmbH | 2 |
| The Regents of the University of Michigan | Translational Medicine Company | 2 |
| The Regents of the University of Michigan | University of South Florida | 2 |
| The Regents of the University of Michigan | RODRIGUEZ HORNEDO NAIR | 2 |
| Zentiva, a.s. | RIDVAN LUDEK | 1 |
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, and the strongest pairing links two related corporate entities rather than independent partners — most work here is filed solo.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranking covers 88 companies across all 354 records — not a curated top-50 — and shows a sharp drop-off after the leading names.
A single assignee sets the pace
The leading assignee's 95 records are nearly double the fifth-place total of 20, showing a steep drop rather than a gradual taper as you move down the ranking.
The top 10 nearly close out the field
Ten assignees account for 79.4% of all 354 records, leaving a comparatively thin tail of 78 remaining companies to split the rest — useful context before assuming a smaller player has room to expand its position.
Recent activity is concentrated, not broad
Most of the leading assignees show no filings in the latest year in this dataset, while one shows continued activity — a sign that recent-year momentum is not evenly spread across the historical leaders.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Les Laboratoires Servier | 9 | — |
| Celgene Corporation | 0 | — |
| Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Board of Regents, The University of Texas System | 0 | — |
| The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia | 0 | -100% |
| Zentiva, a.s. | 0 | — |
| Servier Pharmaceuticals LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Signal Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 0 | — |
Turning this landscape into a filing position
The dataset shows where claims already sit dense and where they thin out. Two ways to act on that before drafting.
Stress-test a coformer claim against the top 5
With 59.3% of 354 records held by five assignees, run any new coformer-selection or hydrogen-bonding claim against their portfolios before drafting, not after.
Explore prior art in EurekaTarget the thinner classes
C07J and C07H each sit under 3% of records — if the chemistry fits, a claim drafted there faces less occupied ground than one filed under A61K.
Map white space in EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
It is concentrated at the top: five assignees hold 210 of the 354 records in scope, or 59.3% of the field, and the leading assignee alone accounts for 95 records. The next tier drops off quickly, with the tenth-ranked assignee holding only 10 records. This means freedom-to-operate analysis for a new filing should start with the leading names rather than assuming risk is evenly spread across the 88 ranked companies.
Filings grew from 18 in 2021 to 42 in 2024, a 133% increase, and 2024 is the most recent year the dataset can treat as complete. The apparent dip in 2025 and 2026 reflects publication lag, since patent applications typically publish around 18 months after filing, not a genuine slowdown. Historically the field peaked earlier, in 2018 at 76 filings, before settling into the more recent growth pattern.
A61K, medicinal preparations, appears in 82.8% of the 354 records, and A61P, therapeutic activity, appears in 53.4%, confirming most claims are framed around drug formulation and use. Heterocyclic chemistry under C07D covers 39.8% and acyclic/carbocyclic compounds under C07C cover 27.7%, carrying the underlying chemical structure claims. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these percentages add up to more than 100% and should not be summed.
US20210139528A1, filed by Intercept Pharmaceuticals and published in 2021, describes crystalline forms of obeticholic acid along with methods of preparing and using them. It is representative of a common claim strategy in this field: locking down a specific solid-state form of an already-known active pharmaceutical ingredient rather than the molecule itself. Anyone working with obeticholic acid or a structurally close analogue should check its specific crystalline-form claims before proposing a new form of the same compound.
The technology composition data points to steroid-related solid forms (C07J, 2.5% of records) and sugar or nucleic-acid coformer systems (C07H, 2.8%) as comparatively thin relative to the dominant A61K and C07D classes. Analytical and verification classes, G01N at 8.2% and C12Q at 7.1%, are also lightly filed compared with formulation claims, suggesting more room around proving stability and performance than around making the forms themselves. These are starting points for a novelty search, not a guarantee of open ground, since a small evidence base can still contain a blocking claim.
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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.