New Patsnap Research Maps the Oligonucleotide Landscape and Patent Cliff, Finding One Delivery Patent Expires Six Years Before the Drugs It Supports

LONDON, SEPTEMBER 9, 2026 — Competitive advantage in oligonucleotide therapeutics has moved off the therapeutic sequence and onto the delivery, conjugation and manufacturing technologies around it, according to new research from Patsnap, a leading global innovation intelligence company for life sciences, IP and R&D teams. 

The research draws on 1,961 patents expiring between 2027 and 2036, 682 interventional clinical trials, and a decade of deal activity. Among the findings:
 

• The expiry wave peaks at 318 patents in 2034, when Ionis's 2'-MOE/LICA antisense chemistry and Alnylam's GalNAc-siRNA architecture both reach their twenty-year terms. 
• One delivery patent expires six years earlier than that peak. Alnylam's L96 GalNAc conjugate (US 10,131,907 B2) has an expected expiry of 24 August 2028, opening the shared delivery chassis beneath inclisiran, givosiran, lumasiran and vutrisiran while their own sequence claims remain in force.
• Regulatory strategy is moving with it. In mid-2026, two conjugated oligonucleotide programmes reached the FDA as Biologics License Applications rather than New Drug Applications, a route carrying twelve years of reference-product exclusivity instead of five. 
• Delivery has become a dealmaking axis. Novartis's approximately $12 billion acquisition of Avidity Biosciences, completed in February 2026, is the largest transaction in the modality and signals that tissue access beyond the liver has moved from technical frontier to acquisition target. 
• The clinical field is broadening. ASOs remain the largest pipeline at 313 trials, while CRISPR has overtaken siRNA on cumulative count, 163 to 137, though more than half of CRISPR trials remain in Phase I or Phase I/II.

"Most teams are still running freedom-to-operate analysis at the sequence level, and that is no longer where the answer sits," said Lexi Luo, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Patsnap. "The delivery, conjugation and manufacturing layers expire on different schedules to the molecules they support, and knowing which opens first is the difference between planning for 2028 and reacting to it."

The full analysis is published in two reports. The first maps the patent estate, the 2027 to 2036 expiry wave, and where freedom to operate opens. The second covers 682 clinical trials, sponsor concentration, and a decade of deal activity across siRNA, ASO, aptamer, and CRISPR. Both are available for free here: https://info.patsnap.com/oligonucleotide-therapeutics-reports-2026?utm_campaign=51918893-Q3%202026%20-%20Oligo%20Report&utm_source=BioSpace&utm_medium=PR

About Patsnap 
Founded in Singapore in 2007, Patsnap is a leading global innovation intelligence company for life sciences, IP and R&D teams. Leveraging domain-specific AI agents, proprietary datasets and robust analytics tools, Patsnap empowers teams to unlock insights, accelerate discoveries, and protect breakthroughs. Trusted by nearly 18,000 enterprises, law firms and research institutions in over 50 countries, including one-third of the world's largest R&D spenders and 28 of the top 30 biopharma companies globally, Patsnap transforms how organizations innovate and make critical decisions. Learn more at www.patsnap.com. 

Media contact 

Kate White  

Associate Director, Marketing 

media@patsnap.com