Pharmaceutical Excipients Market Size

Pharmaceutical Excipients Market Analysis

The Pharmaceutical Excipients Market size is estimated at USD 9.94 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 14.56 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 7.93% during the forecast period (2024-2029).

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the pharmaceutical industry. Initially, pharmaceutical excipient companies faced substantial challenges, such as a low supply of medical items and a strict lockdown imposed by the government worldwide that impacted the global supply chain of raw materials from manufacturing hubs such as India and China.

However, the increased focus on developing therapeutics for COVID-19 significantly impacted the market growth. For instance, in February 2021, Evonik signed a strategic partnership with BioNTech on the COVID-19 vaccine. Evonik also planned to invest in the short-term expansion of its specialty lipid production, an excipient essentially required to develop mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. Thus, Evonik made an important contribution to the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine by supplying lipid excipients to speed up the COVID-19 vaccine development process. The COVID-19 pandemic initially had a positive impact on the market; however, as the pandemic has subsided, the market has lost some traction, and thus the market is expected to grow steadily during the forecast period.

The major factors responsible for the growth of the pharmaceutical excipients market include the increasing demand for functional excipients, recent patent expiries driving the need for pharmaceutical excipients, and rapid advancements in nanotechnology.

The growing pharmaceutical industry and increasing pharmaceutical production also propel the market's growth. For instance, according to the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, 2022 report, the production of pharmaceuticals in the European region increased by 4.6% to EUR 300,000 million in 2021. Thus, such an increase in production value corresponds to an increase in the volume of production of pharmaceuticals, in turn boosting the demand for pharmaceutical excipients.

Furthermore, the expansion of facilities by the market players to develop high-performance ingredients is also expected to propel the market's growth. For instance, in July 2021, Croda International Plc opened a new high-purity excipients facility in Mill Hall, London. The investment led to Croda's commitment to developing innovative pharmaceutical excipients for use in smart science. Moreover, the increase in the launch of new products also contributes to the market's growth. For instance, in July 2021, DFE Pharma launched a new addition to its broad excipient portfolio, Pharmacel sMCC 90. It is silicified microcrystalline cellulose (MCC).

Thus, the market is expected to project growth over the forecast period due to the abovementioned factors. However, the lack of a proper approval process, adverse reactions of excipients, and contamination in formulations may hinder the market's growth.