A recent study predicts that the size of the global formulation development outsourcing market will increase from its value of $35.1 billion in 2022 to $61.4 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 7.2%.
The researchers discovered that the major drivers of the demand for formulation development services globally were the higher incidence of chronic and infectious diseases; growing interest in improving the bioavailability of drugs that were poorly soluble; and the difficulties involved in drug development.
Demand is also being fueled by COVID-19, since large funds were invested in R&D to create medicines in order to combat the contagious virus.
The main drug classes in development in 2022, according to Informa’s Pharma R&D Annual Review 2022, are biopharmaceuticals and anti-cancer medications. This is predicted to boost demand for dosage forms of these medications following the pandemic.
Pharmaceutical businesses all over the world are investing heavily in R&D. For instance, Merck’s R&D expenditures in 2020 were estimated to be $2.5 billion, while Biogen’s were estimated to be $4 billion. This is a 75% increase in R&D spending for Biogen compared to 2019. Due to issues with formulation development, a substantial number of medications do not make it to late-stage clinical trials. The desire for outsourcing formulation development is also being fueled by rigorous laws governing the development of pharmaceuticals. This combination is anticipated to increase demand for outsourcing formulation development.
Contract services were essential to the COVID-19 response, but now that the disease’s prevalence has fallen sharply, contract research organisations (CROs) as well as contract development and manufacturing organisations (CDMOs) are refocusing their efforts on the creation of medicines to treat oncology and other diseases. For example, in April 2022, LabCorp and Xcell Biosciences worked together to assist the development of cell and gene therapies by the latter business for the treatment of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and other uncommon disorders. Such CDMO efforts are projected to increase demand for the outsourcing of drug formulation creation for the treatment of cancer and other uncommon diseases.
In terms of service types, pre-formulation is anticipated to see a CAGR of 6.8% between 2022 and 2030 as a result of the rising demand for novel medications to address the high disease burden in the world.
The oncology therapeutic area is anticipated to experience the quickest CAGR of 8.4% over the projection due to the increased prevalence of cancer worldwide, which is contributing to the requirement for formulation development of new medications. The category for injectable goods is anticipated to have the formulation type’s fastest CAGR, at 7.8%. The report claims that the high bioavailability of injectables is the reason for their popularity.
