MNTA—I suspect it is the totality of their analytical expertise and skill that puts them as frontrunners rather than any single step or method that is proprietary and beyond the reach of competitors.
The algorithms* that iteratively determine which molecular structures in a given substance are ruled out—and consequently which ones remain candidate solutions—may be the most difficult part of MNTA’s technology for a competitor to copy. I would expect some of this portion of MNTA’s technology to remain protected via trade secret rather than patent.
MNTA refers to these algorithms as its proprietary informatics.
“The efficient-market hypothesis may be the foremost piece of B.S. ever promulgated in any area of human knowledge!”