Tangential Flow Filtration Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- 40.9% of all 1,106 records sit with just five assignees — a genuinely concentrated field for a purification process technology.
- Filings peaked in 2023 at 97 and the leading applicants show flat or negative year-over-year momentum, though 2025-2026 data is still filling in.
- B01D separation-process claims cover 61.3% of records while therapeutic-activity claims under A61P sit at just 6.0% — a gap between hardware and clinical-endpoint framing.
Filing growth compares 2021 (84 records) with 2024 (57) — 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 1,106 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
Tangential flow filtration (TFF) and diafiltration patents cluster around a specific problem: moving liquid across a membrane fast enough for commercial-scale bioprocessing while controlling what stays in the retentate and what leaves in the permeate. This landscape spans 1,106 published records filed or published between 2015 and mid-2026, drawn from documents that combine TFF or crossflow filtration hardware language with process-control terms like diafiltration volume, buffer exchange, salt removal and endpoint control, filtered to the B01D61/14, B01D63/00 and C12N5/00 classification set.
That classification overlap matters: this is not a pure membrane-hardware landscape. It sits at the intersection of separation engineering (B01D) and biologics production (C12N, C07K), which is why the same applicants filing on single-pass TFF skid design also show up filing on cell-culture and antibody purification claims.
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Filing trend and technology mix
Two views of the same 1,106-record set: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
A 2023 peak, then a fall that predates the publication lag
Annual filings rose from 18 in 2017 to a peak of 97 in 2023. Using 2024 as the last complete year, filings fell from 84 in 2021 to 57 in 2024, a 32% decline over that span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, so they should not be read as a continuation of that decline yet.
Separation process claims dominate; therapeutic framing is thin
B01D (separation processes) appears in 61.3% of records and C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) in 50.7%, confirming this is primarily a process-and-hardware landscape attached to biologics production rather than a therapeutics landscape. A61P (therapeutic activity) appears in only 6.0% of records, and C12M (bioreactors and enzyme apparatus) in 13.7% — both comparatively open relative to the core separation claims.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,106 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Tangential Flow Filtration Diafiltration with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about tangential flow filtration diafiltration and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative and most-cited filings
US11278827B2 — Single-pass tangential flow filtration with retentate recirculation
The patent discloses methods for filtering a liquid feed through a single-pass TFF (SPTFF) system, recovering retentate and permeate into separate containers without recirculation, and a second version that recirculates part of the retentate through the TFF system at least once while still separating out permeate and a portion of retentate. It is filed by EMD Millipore Corporation.Granted 2022-03-22. Sits squarely in the B01D separation-process claim space that covers 61.3% of this landscape.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WO1999011764A2 | Methods for generating high titer helper-free preparations of recombinant AAV vectors | 385 |
| 2 | US20080004206A1 | Albumin fusion proteins | 206 |
| 3 | US6139746A | Method and apparatus for purification of biological substances | 197 |
| 4 | US7582745B2 | Compositions and methods for inhibiting expression of Nav1.8 gene | 152 |
| 5 | WO2005024044A2 | Method for the production of fusion proteins in transgenic mammal milk | 112 |
| 6 | US6596172B1 | Purification of biological substances | 109 |
| 7 | US20090264511A1 | Compositions and methods for inhibiting expression of factor vii gene | 91 |
| 8 | US20180298372A1 | A method for producing and purifying RNA, comprising at least one step of tangential flow filtration | 82 |
| 9 | US7510875B2 | Methods for producing purified adenoviral vectors | 81 |
| 10 | WO2007076032A2 | Compositions and methods for producing a composition | 80 |
Citation counts favour older filings in any searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence on later filers, not as a measure of current relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three read-throughs from the trend and composition data above, translated into what they imply for someone deciding where to file next.
The top of the field is genuinely crowded
Five assignees hold 452 of the 1,106 records in scope, and the top ten hold 579 (52.4%). That is a dense claim environment around core TFF and diafiltration process control — new entrants filing broad process claims here are filing into occupied space, not open ground.
Growth has cooled among the leaders, not accelerated
The three-year decline from 84 filings in 2021 to 57 in 2024 lines up with flat or negative year-over-year filing counts among several of the largest assignees. That is a maturing claim landscape rather than a growing one, at least through the last complete filing year.
Hardware claims far outnumber clinical-endpoint claims
Only 6.0% of records carry an A61P therapeutic-activity classification, against 61.3% carrying B01D separation-process classification. Applicants are claiming the filtration mechanics heavily and the downstream therapeutic tie-in lightly, which is where narrower, more defensible claims may still be available.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to tangential flow filtration diafiltration, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the field is thinning
The leading assignees span large-molecule biologics manufacturers and one dedicated filtration-hardware specialist, with co-filing pairs pointing to specific manufacturing partnerships rather than broad cross-licensing.
A single filer holds a clear lead
The top-ranked assignee holds 128 records, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 35 and the tenth-place holder at 19 — a steep drop-off rather than a gradual one, typical of a field anchored by one large biologics manufacturer's process patents.
Co-filing concentrates around a handful of partnerships
Ten co-assignee pairs appear in the data, with the strongest pairing far ahead of the others, and a second and third pair each involving the same biologics manufacturer with different partners. This points to specific joint-development filings rather than field-wide collaboration.
Leaders are pulling back, not just plateauing
Several of the largest historical filers show zero filings in the latest year with a -100% year-over-year change, while one leading assignee still shows 2 filings in the latest year. Read the -100% figures cautiously given publication lag, but the direction across multiple large filers is consistent.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Genentech, Inc. | 2 | — |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Amgen Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| EMD Millipore Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| Novartis AG | 0 | — |
| Genzyme Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Bristol Myers Squibb Company | 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 a filing gap.
Map claim scope against the top assignees
Concentration at the top of this field means a freedom-to-operate check should start with the ranked leaders' independent claims before looking at the long tail.
Explore assignee claims in EurekaTrack the under-claimed branches
Bioreactor-integrated crossflow and analytical tie-ins for permeate control show comparatively lower filing density than the core separation-process claims.
Run a white space search in EurekaWatch momentum, not just totals
Several leading assignees show flat or negative recent filing activity; re-checking this in six to twelve months once publication lag clears will sharpen the trend read.
Set up monitoring in EurekaCommon questions on this landscape
The ranked assignee list shows a clear leader with 128 records, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 35 and the tenth-place holder at 19. The top five assignees combined hold 452 of the 1,106 records in scope, or 40.9%, and the top ten hold 579, or 52.4%. This is a concentrated field: large biologics manufacturers and at least one dedicated filtration-hardware specialist account for the bulk of filings, while the remainder of the ranked 100 companies file far fewer records each.
Filings rose from 18 in 2017 to a peak of 97 in 2023, then using 2024 as the last complete year, fell from 84 filings in 2021 to 57 in 2024, a 32% decline. That points to a cooling rather than an accelerating field through the last complete filing year. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so it is too early to call the more recent years a continued decline.
US11278827B2, held by EMD Millipore Corporation and granted in 2022, covers methods of filtering a liquid feed using single-pass tangential flow filtration (SPTFF), including recovering retentate and permeate into separate containers without recirculation, and a second version that recirculates part of the retentate through the TFF system at least once. It sits within the B01D separation-process claim territory that covers 61.3% of records in this landscape. Anyone designing a single-pass TFF process with partial retentate recirculation should review this claim set specifically before finalising a process flow.
The clearest gap sits between hardware and clinical framing: A61P (therapeutic activity of compounds) appears in only 6.0% of the 1,106 records, against 61.3% for B01D separation-process claims and 50.7% for C12N. Bioreactor-integrated crossflow (C12M, 13.7% of records) and analytical or process-analytical-technology tie-ins to permeate control (G01N, 13.4%) are also comparatively lower-density than the core filtration process claims. These are the areas where a narrowly drafted, indication-specific or instrumentation-specific claim is more likely to find open ground.
B01D (separation processes including filtration) appears in 61.3% of the 1,106 records and C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) in 50.7%, making this fundamentally a process-and-bioproduction landscape rather than a pure membrane-materials one. C07K (peptides and proteins) at 39.0% and A61K (medicinal preparations) at 27.7% show the strong tie to antibody and biologics purification. Because a single record can carry several IPC classes, these shares add up to more than 100% and should not be summed or treated as mutually exclusive categories.
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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.