Segments - Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market by Workflows (Lead Identification & Candidate Optimization, Target Identification & Screening, Target Validation & Functional Informatics, Preclinical Development, and Others), Therapeutics Areas (Oncology, Respiratory System, Pain & Anesthesia, Ophthalmology, Hematology, Cardiovascular, Immunomodulation, Anti-infective, Central Nervous System, Dermatology, Genitourinary System, Endocrine, and Gastrointestinal), Drug Types (Small Molecules and Large Molecules), and Regions (Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa) - Global Industry Analysis, Growth, Share, Size, Trends, and Forecast 2023 - 2031
The global drug discovery outsourcing market size was valued at USD 3.51 Billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 6.56 Billion by 2031, expanding at a CAGR of 7.2% during the forecast period 2023 - 2031. The growth of the market is attributed to the rising R&D expenditure in the pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical industry.
Drug discovery outsourcing has emerged one of the lucrative and promising developments of the pharmaceutical industry and massive R&D activities are outsourced by pharmaceutical companies and given to academic and private contract research organizations (CROs).
This outsourcing reduces the overall cost and timelines of drug discovery activities. In the past two decades, the pharmaceutical industry has seen fundamental changes in unparalleled rationalizing of the internal discovery, shift toward biologics, and patent expiration.
All these factors help in the rapid growth of adoption of outsourcing activities. In the biopharmaceutical industry, it is projected more than 80% of R&D expenditure are outsourced that creates a key opportunity for CROs, which in turn, is projected to fuel the market growth.
Furthermore, dividing drug discovery into different steps helps the players and other corporations for specialization in their core services. In emerging countries, pharmaceutical companies are making partnership with manufacturing companies because of advantages such as low-cost manpower, skilled worker, and quality data.
These pharmaceutical companies are expected to expand their outsourcing because of some significant factors such as innovations in technology, increasing speed and agility, accessibility of specialized knowledge, and cost-cutting factor. As a result, it is estimated to rise in competition among major market players in some countries such as the US, South Korea, India, Singapore, China, and other Southeast Asian countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced to reduce many drug discovery processes due to uncertainty about the situation and several clinical trials. However, substantial incentives are projected for investments by pharmaceutical companies in developing vaccines and drugs against infectious diseases.
With the condition of emergency requirement of effective vaccines and drugs, many pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical are rising outsourcing for the enhancement in clinical trials. This is anticipated to propel the market growth in the coming years.
The report on the global drug discovery outsourcing market includes an assessment of the market, trends, segments, and regional markets. Overview and dynamics have also been included in the report.
Attributes |
Details |
Report Title |
Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market - Global Industry Analysis, Growth, Share, Size, Trends, and Forecast |
Base Year |
2022 |
Historic Data |
2016–2021 |
Forecast Period |
2023–2031 |
Segmentation |
Workflows (Lead Identification & Candidate Optimization, Target Identification & Screening, Target Validation & Functional Informatics, Preclinical Development, and Others), Therapeutics Areas (Oncology, Respiratory System, Pain & Anesthesia, Ophthalmology, Hematology, Cardiovascular, Immunomodulation, Anti-infective, Central Nervous System, Dermatology, Genitourinary System, Endocrine, and Gastrointestinal), and Drug Types (Small Molecules and Large Molecules) |
Regional Scope |
Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa |
Report Coverage |
Company Share, Market Analysis and Size, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends, and Revenue Forecast |
Key Players Covered in the Report |
Albany Molecular Research Inc., EVOTEC, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, GenScript, Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC, Charles River, WuXi AppTec, Merck & Co., Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Dalton Pharma Services, Oncodesign, Jubilant Biosys, DiscoverX Corporation, and QIAGEN |
Based on workflows, the drug discovery outsourcing market is segmented into lead identification & candidate optimization, target identification & screening, target validation & functional informatics, preclinical development, and others. The lead identification & candidate optimization workflow segment held a large market share in 2020 and is expected to expand market share in the coming years.
The sequential process of lead identification is also called as hit-to-lead, which is an important stage in early drug discovery. The launch of advanced silico techniques for the improvement in lead identification process, such as computer-aided drug discovery (CADD) and structure-based drug designs are expected to propel the segment growth.
Increasing requirement of skilled resources along with knowledge of computer software, metabolism, and analytical chemistry are propelling higher outsourcing for the lead identification segment. Moreover, high cost associated with latest computation technology is factor for drive the segment growth over the forecast period.
The lead identification & candidate optimization segment have other related service segments such as upstream & downstream processes, formulations & quality assessment, regulatory assistance, cell line development, and analytical/bioanalytical methods. Hence, rising adoption in outsourcing services and rise in investments in drug discovery are estimated to boost the segment growth.
On the basis of therapeutics areas, the market is divided into oncology, respiratory system, pain & anesthesia, ophthalmology, hematology, cardiovascular, immunomodulation, anti-infective, central nervous system, dermatology, genitourinary system, endocrine, and gastrointestinal. The respiratory systems segment is expected to account for a key share of the market during the forecast period owing to rise in number of incidences of respiratory disorders including chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), bronchitis, asthma, and tuberculosis.
Additionally, growing cases of drug resistance boosts the segment growth. The launch of different novel drug delivery technologies including nasal sprays is driving the segment growth. As projected in the U.K., around 1 million people suffer from diagnosed COPD. Meanwhile, the anti-infective segment is projected to exhibit a high CAGR during the forecast period owing to wide adoption of RNA-Modifying Proteins (RMPs) for cancer treatment. Companies are investing on R&D regarding anti-infective drugs, which fuels the anti-infective segment growth.
In terms of drug types, the drug discovery outsourcing market is bifurcated into small molecules and large molecules. The small molecules segment is expected to hold a key share of the market during the forecast period owing to its key role in the development of innovative treatments. In 2019, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved 50 new drugs out of which around 80% were composed of small molecules.
Small molecules plays an important role in treatment innovation in four key therapeutic areas namely cardiovascular, respiratory diseases, oncology, and autoimmune. Growing significance and high effectiveness of components are responsible factors for driving the segment growth.
Moreover, small molecules have advantages over large molecules for rising investment in cancer research field. Small molecules for the treatment of chronic diseases are administered orally as they are easy to manufacture, cheaper, and can be mixed with intracellular targets.
On the basis of regions, the drug discovery outsourcing market is categorized as Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. The market of North America is anticipated to dominate the market expanding at an impressive CAGR during the forecast period.
The regional market growth can be attributed to growing adoption of advanced technologies, presence of major market payers, research infrastructure, and investment in R&D for drug discovery. Increasing efficiency, innovation, reduction in cost, and quality are projected to fuel the regional market growth.
However, the market of Asia Pacific is expected to exhibit a rapid growth rate in the coming years due to encouraging regulatory environment, skilled manpower, and high quality data. At the global level, Japan is the second largest pharmaceutical market and the existence of drug development activities in the country is projected to give an opportunity for CROs, therefore, propelling the market growth in Asia Pacific.
The global drug discovery outsourcing market has been segmented on the basis of
Key players competing in the drug discovery outsourcing market include Albany Molecular Research Inc., EVOTEC, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, GenScript, Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC, Charles River, WuXi AppTec, Merck & Co., Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Dalton Pharma Services, Oncodesign, Jubilant Biosys, DiscoverX Corporation, and QIAGEN.
Major market players are consistently implementing several business strategies such as mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, capacity expansion, and product launches to enhance their market shares. Moreover, some of these key players have entered into partnerships with contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) over contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs). For instance, in the UK, CROs are collaborating with companies in the Swiss pharmaceutical sector.
In 2018, the University of Nottingham collaborated with GSK and the University of Leicester for accelerating the development and discovery of new treatments for COPD.
In another event, AstraZeneca entered into a collaboration in June 2020 with Accent Therapeutics for the purpose of development, discovery, and commercialization of transformative therapeutics.