Market Trends of Membrane Chromatography Industry
Ion Exchange Membrane Chromatography is Expected to Cover a Large Share of the Market
Ion-exchange chromatography (IC) is a chromatography process that separates ions and polar molecules based on their affinity to the ion exchanger. It works on almost any kind of charged molecule, including large proteins, small nucleotides, and amino acids.
Moreover, as per the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's 2021 drug approval report, over 15 new biologics were approved for disease treatments. For instance, 'Shingrix powder and suspension for injection [Herpes zoster vaccine (recombinant, adjuvanted)] [recombinant protein]' manufactured by GSK was approved for the treatment of immunosuppression or immunodepression from herpes zoster disease or treatment. Since ion exchange chromatography is used for the purification of drugs, the increasing drug approvals are expected to increase market growth over the forecast period.
The large share of this segment has been attributed to its wide applications in antibody polishing and virus purification due to the advantages associated with ion exchange membrane chromatography, such as scalability, robustness, disposable nature, high throughput, rapid processing, reduced buffer consumption, and a validation-free environment. Product launches to provide support for such applications are another factor in market growth. For instance, in December 2022, CD Bioparticles launched a range of ion exchange chromatography resins with enhanced loading capacity, ultra-high resolution, and strong mechanical strengths, suitable for the purification of small molecular weight molecules, covering small proteins, polypeptides, nucleic acids, and antibiotics.
Thus, with an increasing number of drug approvals and product launches, the segment is expected to grow over the forecast period.
North America is Expected to Dominate the Membrane Chromatography Market
North America includes the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The US and Canada have well-structured and developed healthcare systems. These countries also promote pharmaceutical research and development and hence have very high expenditures on healthcare. As a result of these policies, many companies globally are encouraged to operate in this region.
Many of the global pharmaceutical players have their headquarters and research labs in the US. As pharmaceutical research requires membrane chromatography, the demand for these technologies and processes is high in North America. This large share can be attributed to the increasing demand for biopharmaceuticals and rising R&D expenditure by biopharmaceutical companies in North America. As per clinicaltrials.gov, around 15,316 clinical trials were registered in the United States involving biopharmaceuticals in 2022. Moreover, the incidence of diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and diabetes creates demand for new biopharmaceuticals in the country. For instance, as per the Canadian Cancer Statistics 2021 released in November 2021, an estimated 229,200 Canadians were diagnosed with cancer in 2021. The data provided by Health Canada in November 2021 reported that biological medicines approved in Canada make up a large share of pharmaceutical sales in international markets.
Product launches are another factor in market growth. For instance, in January 2021, Cytiva further advanced fiber chromatography technology with the next release of Fibro technology. Fibro technology enables rapid cycling chromatography to accelerate research and process development, as well as increases productivity in large-scale manufacturing. This creates substantial cost savings and helps bring therapies to market faster.
