Yeast Chassis Transporter Patents: Leaders, Trends & White Space 2026
- Filings have pulled back sharply. the field went from 9 filings in 2021 to 2 in 2024, a 78% drop over that span, though 2025-2026 counts are still filling in as publications catch up.
- One lineage dominates the ranking. a single assignee tops the 100-company ranking with 959 records, well ahead of the fifth (69) and tenth (36) placed entities.
- Filings concentrate in fermentation and therapeutics, not just genetics. C12P fermentation & enzymatic synthesis reaches 63.3% of the 1,287 records, and A61P therapeutic activity still touches 46.8%, alongside the expected C12N dominance at 94.0%.
Filing growth compares 2021 (9 records) with 2024 (2) — 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.
What this landscape covers
Yeast chassis transporter engineering sits at the intersection of host-cell design and membrane biology: patents here claim genetic modifications to Saccharomyces and related yeast hosts that alter substrate uptake, product export, efflux pump activity or membrane permeability. The search scope combines host-cell and transporter-function keywords with three IPC classes — C12N15/81 (genetic engineering in yeast), C12N1/16 (yeast microorganisms), and C12Q1/68 (nucleic acid based measuring) — so the dataset captures both the engineering claims and the assay methods used to characterise them.
The 1,287 records in scope span 2015 to the mid-2026 cut-off. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years understate actual filing activity and should be read as provisional rather than a real decline.
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Filing trend and technology composition
The trend line and the IPC breakdown below are drawn from the same 1,287-record scope used throughout this page.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose to a peak of 11 in 2023, then fell to 2 by 2024 — a 78% drop from the 2021 level of 9. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures shown are still incomplete and should not be read as a continued decline.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
C12N (microorganisms & genetic engineering) covers 94.0% of the 1,287 records, with C07K (peptides & proteins) at 83.7%, C12Q (enzyme/DNA measuring) at 81.4%, and A61K (medicinal preparations) at 80.1% close behind. Because records commonly carry several IPC codes at once, these shares sum to well over 100% and should be read as overlapping coverage, not a partition of the corpus.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,287 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Yeast Chassis Transporter Engineering with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about yeast chassis transporter engineering and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative and most-cited filings
Sulfite tolerance in recombinant yeast host cells (US20220090102A1)
The present disclosure concerns the use of specific genetic modification(s) for improving sulfite tolerance in recombinant yeast host cells. The genetic modification(s) is (are) designed to allow the expression of a heterologous transcription factor favoring the expression of an SSU1 polypeptide and/or the expression of a heterologous SSU1 polypeptide in the recombinant yeast host cell(s).Filed by Danstar Ferment AG, this filing ties a specific transporter (SSU1) and its transcriptional control directly to a fermentation-relevant phenotype — a claim pattern that is easy to search around but hard to design around if the target phenotype is sulfite tolerance itself.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WO2001088197A2 | Methods and compositions for interaction trap assays | 901 |
| 2 | WO2000055351A1 | Human colon cancer associated gene sequences and polypeptides | 357 |
| 3 | WO1998046763A1 | Methods and compositions for synthesis of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids | 307 |
| 4 | US6589767B1 | Methods and compositions for synthesis of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids | 302 |
| 5 | US5968809A | Methods and compositions for synthesis of long chain poly-unsaturated fatty acids | 274 |
| 6 | WO1998046765A1 | Methods and compositions for synthesis of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids | 253 |
| 7 | US5972664A | Methods and compositions for synthesis of long chain poly-unsaturated fatty acids | 253 |
| 8 | US6136574A | Methods and compositions for synthesis of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids | 232 |
| 9 | WO2001090304A2 | Nucleic acids, proteins, and antibodies | 214 |
| 10 | WO2001022920A2 | Colon and colon cancer associated polynucleotides and polypeptides | 197 |
Citation counts favour older filings inside any searched corpus — treat them as a signal of influence on later work, not of current commercial 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
Read together, the trend, the citation table and the technology mix point to a field with an entrenched early lineage and a claim space that has narrowed rather than opened up in recent complete years.
Recent complete-year filings have contracted
Filings dropped from 9 in 2021 to 2 in 2024, after peaking at 11 in 2023. Because 2025-2026 data is still incomplete due to publication lag, this should be read as a real pullback through the last complete year rather than a signal that the field has ended.
One lineage holds a large lead over the rest of the ranking
The top-ranked assignee's 959 records dwarf the fifth-place figure of 69 and the tenth-place figure of 36, indicating a small cluster of related filers built the early foundation of this space while the remaining ranked entities each hold a modest slice.
Fermentation claims run alongside genetic-engineering claims
C12P (fermentation & enzymatic synthesis) touches 63.3% of records and A61P (therapeutic activity) touches 46.8%, showing that transporter engineering claims routinely bundle a production or a therapeutic end-use rather than standing alone as host-cell method claims.
The most-cited filings are early and broad, not recent
The most-cited record in this set, WO2001088197A2, carries 901 citations and dates from the early period of the field. High citation counts here mark influence on later filings inside this corpus, not present-day commercial weight.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to yeast chassis transporter engineering, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the ground, and where the door is still open
The ranking is dominated by a small, tightly linked group of early filers; recent-year momentum data shows none of the six most closely tracked assignees added a filing in the latest year, consistent with the broader complete-year pullback.
An early, tightly co-filed lineage anchors the field
The strongest co-assignee pairing in the dataset links the top assignee with two individual inventor-assignees at 298 shared records each, and a third pairing at 262 — a pattern typical of a foundational research group whose filings were later assigned or re-assigned as a block.
Momentum has stalled among the historically largest filers
None of the six assignees most closely tracked for recent momentum — including the top-ranked lineage — show any filings in the latest year, reinforcing that the field's foundational filers are not currently active, even allowing for publication lag.
Corporate filers sit alongside the individual-inventor lineage
Alongside the dominant early lineage, corporate assignees including Novartis and Danstar Ferment AG appear in the ranking and in the representative filing, showing that industrial fermentation and pharma players continue to file narrower, phenotype-specific transporter claims.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Human Genome Sciences, Inc. | 0 | — |
| ROSEN CRAIG A | 0 | — |
| RUBEN STEVEN M | 0 | — |
| BARASH STEVEN C | 0 | — |
| KOMATSOULIS GEORGE | 0 | — |
| NI JIAN | 0 | — |
| EBNER REINHARD | 0 | — |
| KOMATSOULIS GEORGE A | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The figures on this page describe where filings have landed; deciding where to file next means testing a specific claim draft or a specific competitor's portfolio against this same scope.
Check a draft claim against the lead lineage
The top assignee cluster's 959 records and its tight co-assignee pairings suggest a dense prior-art wall around the original transcription-factor and SSU1-style claim patterns; a candidate claim should be run against this cluster specifically before drafting further.
Explore this in EurekaMap the under-claimed transporter branches
Sugar transporter specificity tuning and non-Saccharomyces efflux claims show thinner direct coverage than the dominant fermentation and genetic-engineering classes; a targeted search of these branches can confirm how open they really are.
Explore this in EurekaCommon questions on this landscape
The assignee ranking in this dataset is dominated by a single early lineage that reaches 959 records, far ahead of the fifth-place assignee at 69 and the tenth-place assignee at 36. Co-assignee data shows this lineage is really a small, tightly linked group of individual inventor-assignees filed together, which is common for early-2000s genomics-era portfolios that later moved into yeast host-cell engineering. Corporate filers such as Novartis and Danstar Ferment AG appear further down the ranking with narrower, more recent phenotype-specific claims. Anyone assessing freedom to operate should treat the top cluster as one prior-art block rather than several independent filers.
Using only complete-year data, filings fell from 9 in 2021 to 2 in 2024, a 78% drop, after peaking at 11 in 2023. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the 2025 and 2026 counts in the raw data are still filling in and should not be read as evidence of a continued decline. Taken together, the pattern is a real pullback through the last complete year rather than a field that has stopped moving. A fresh pull closer to the 2026 cut-off will be needed to see whether filing has resumed.
This filing, assigned to Danstar Ferment AG, claims genetic modifications that improve sulfite tolerance in recombinant yeast host cells, specifically through expression of a heterologous transcription factor that favours SSU1 polypeptide expression, or expression of a heterologous SSU1 polypeptide itself. It blocks approaches that rely on that specific transcription-factor-to-SSU1 mechanism for sulfite tolerance in yeast hosts. It does not block sulfite tolerance achieved through unrelated mechanisms, nor does it touch other transporter functions such as product export or general membrane permeability, so the practical scope is narrower than the phenotype it targets.
The technology composition shows heavy overlap in C12N genetic engineering (94.0% of 1,287 records), C07K peptides (83.7%) and C12Q measuring methods (81.4%), leaving comparatively thinner direct coverage in areas like sugar transporter specificity tuning, non-Saccharomyces chassis efflux pumps, and product-export membrane permeability control specifically. These are not empty categories, but they sit behind the dominant classes rather than at their centre. A first claim in one of these branches would need to specify the exact transporter family and host species rather than relying on the broad host-cell-engineering language that already dominates the corpus.
Among receiving offices in this dataset, WIPO's PCT route leads with 361 filings, followed by the European Patent Office at 308 and the United States at 291. Australia (216) and Canada (49) follow, with Brazil at 8. The PCT lead suggests filers in this space are seeking broad multi-jurisdiction protection early, consistent with the fermentation and pharma end-uses that many of these transporter claims are bundled with.
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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.