Scopolamine Market Size

Scopolamine Market Analysis

Over the next few years, the scopolamine market is expected to register a CAGR of about 6.1%.

The COVID-19 pandemic had an extraordinary impact on the scopolamine business. Scopolamine was mostly employed in surgical procedures, and the fall in surgical volume during the pandemic hampered the scopolamine market's growth. For instance, according to an article published in Jama Network in April 2021, an article reported that the frequency of surgical procedures throughout the country experienced a substantial decrease that may persist after the COVID-19 pandemic's initial exponential growth phase. Thus, the surgical procedures were reduced, which decreased the need for scopolamine-related dosage forms as it is used to prevent nausea and vomiting after anesthesia, narcotic pain medicines, and surgery. Thus, initially, the market was severely impacted, but after a few months, it gained its momentum for growth. Over the last two years, the market recovery has been led by the rise in several surgical procedures. For instance, as per the January 2022 report from Euractiv, during the pandemic, 400,000 surgeries were postponed, which considerably increased the number of patients on the waiting list. During the projected period, the market is predicted to have a significant increase in surgeries, which is expected to support market growth in the following years.

The factors that may drive the market are the growing number of surgical procedures, rising healthcare expenditure, and adaptation to scopolamine. According to a July 2021 article published in the Annals of Surgery, nearly nine major surgeries were performed annually in the United States for every 100 older people, and more than one in every seven Medicare beneficiaries underwent a major surgery over five years, representing nearly 5 million surgeries in the United States each year.Thus, a significant number of surgical procedures are performed annually, and it is expected to raise demand for scopolamine to help reduce secretion during surgical operations, thereby boosting the market's growth.

Also, growing treatment trials on scopolamine and its increasing use for the treatment of various diseases In recent times, many studies have reported the use of scopolamine in the treatment of major depressive disorder. For instance, in April 2021, an article published in the International Journal of Psychiatry reported that most available treatment trials of scopolamine have confirmed the rapid onset of antidepressant effects in unipolar and bipolar depression and that scopolamine is used as an alternative treatment option to ketamine in patients with treatment-resistant depression. In addition, the article also reported that seven treatment trials have demonstrated the rapid therapeutic effects of scopolamine in depression, both as monotherapy and as augmentation. Similarly, in August 2022, Southwest Research Institute developed an efficient, fully synthetic method to produce scopolamine, a plant-derived compound used to prevent nausea and vomiting from motion sickness and anesthesia. The accomplishment marks the first time SwRI has fully synthesized a drug compound that is naturally derived from plants. Thus, such research and clinical studies are driving the scopolamine market.

Thus, owing to the above-mentioned factors, such as an increase in the number of surgical procedures and research activities on scopolamine, it is expected to boost the scopolamine market's growth over the forecast period. However, side effects and misuse of scopolamine, and stringent regulatory policies, may slow down its growth during the studied period.