One assignee leads with 30 of the 131 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-ranked holder at 11. The top five assignees together account for 72.5% of all records, and the top ten reach 96.2%, so this is a concentrated field rather than one with many evenly sized holders. The full ranking returned by the data endpoint covers 21 companies counted in records, not a top-50 or top-100 list.

Filings peaked in 2017 at 29 and have since eased, with a documented 27% drop from 11 filings in 2021 to 8 in 2024, the most recent year that can be treated as complete. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures in any dataset are still filling in and should not be read as evidence of a further decline. Overall the pattern looks like a maturing category with an established core rather than an emerging one.

US11331434B2, assigned to Merz Pharma and published 2022-05-17, covers a botulinum toxin prefilled syringe system built around low gliding force and low break loose force, using a glass syringe barrel, a plunger stopper and a closure device such as a tip cap or needle shield. It also claims a kit including the system with instructions for use, and covers therapeutic and cosmetic use of that system. Anyone designing a low-friction prefilled syringe for a botulinum toxin formulation needs to check this claim set specifically, since it ties the force characteristics to the physical barrel-and-closure combination rather than to the drug alone.

The device and formulation classes, A61M and A61K, cover 73.3% and 48.1% of the 131 records respectively, meaning core hardware and drug-formulation claims are dense. Force-and-pressure measurement (G01L) and lab apparatus (B01L) each sit under 7% of records, which points to comparatively open space in measurement methodology and validation apparatus for properties like break loose force and silicone migration rather than in the syringe hardware itself. A first claim in these thinner branches would likely center on a specific test method or apparatus rather than a device architecture already covered by denser filings.

The United States leads with 38 filings, followed by the European Patent Office and Israel each with 15, and the WIPO PCT route with 12. Australia and Canada follow at 7 and 5 respectively. This spread indicates that most applicants pursue protection across major pharmaceutical markets in parallel, consistent with a field driven by biologic drug sponsors and device makers who need coverage everywhere a prefilled biologic product will be sold.