Small Molecule Drug Discovery Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecast (2022 - 2027)

Market Overview

The small molecule drug discovery market is expected to register a CAGR of nearly 8.05% during the forecast period, 2022-2027.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the health systems of countries have been heavily investing in research and development to combat the virus. Research groups across the world have set about identifying small molecule drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 by screening both novel and existing drugs for their ability to alleviate symptoms and stem viral replication. Thus, in view of the ongoing pandemic, the small molecule drug discovery market is expected to be positively impacted by the urge to find a cure for COVID-19.

The rising applications of small molecule drugs in the treatment of chronic disorders are leading to the rising demand for small molecule drugs in the market, according to the study published in 'European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry titled 'Discovery of small-molecule candidates against inflammatory bowel disease' published in October 2019, recent advances in the discovery of small-molecule candidates and natural compounds with promising in vivo potential for anti-inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment. The rising advances in small molecule development for the treatment of IBD will further increase the demand for small molecule drugs, thereby expected to propel market growth. Moreover, increasing chronic diseases propel market growth. According to the Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2019, around 116.4 million people, which accounts for 46% of adults in the United States, were estimated to have hypertension. As per the American Cancer Society, in 2020, approximately 1.8 million new cancer cases are anticipated to be diagnosed, and around 606,520 cancer deaths may occur in the United States. The increase in chronic diseases is expected to increase the demand for treatments, resulting in the high growth of the market.

Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly outsourcing their R&D activities, including early-stage research programs, to third-party organizations such as academic institutions, biotech startups, and private contract research organizations (CROs) to remain competitive, flexible, and profitable in the face of adversity.​ According to the American Chemical Society in 2021, pharmaceutical corporations have traditionally focused their efforts on China, Asia's largest market and home to the world's largest contract research organization, and are now expanding into India, as the Indian CROs are low-cost compound synthesizers along with providing world-class chemistry-service. Expanding CRO networks for the research and development activities is further said to drive the growth of the small molecules drug discovery market.

Rising technological advancements and the preference for small molecules, along with the rising disease complications, have led major players to increase their R&D expenditure, which is further acting as the major growth factor for the market. Rising approvals from Food and Drug applications for small molecules are also expected to drive the growth of the small molecule drug discovery market. For instance, according to the data published on Mid-Year Review: New Drug Approvals in June 2021, the United States Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) has authorized 26 New Molecular Entity's (NMEs) at the halfway point of 2021 (as of June 28, 2021), which was on par with the full-year 2020 approval rate of 53 NMEs.

However, high drug development costs and strict regulations for drug development are expected to limit the market growth over the forecast period.

Scope of the Report

As per the scope of the report, small molecule drug discovery represents all the costs incurred by a drug discovery company during the discovery phase (all four stages, including target identification/validation, hit generation and selection, lead identification, and lead optimization). A small molecule is a substance that can enter cells easily, as it has a low molecular weight. These are used as drugs for therapeutic purposes and include chemically synthesized drug molecules as well as all the biologically synthesized drug molecules. The Small Molecule Drug Discovery Market is Segmented by Therapeutic Area (Oncology, Central Nervous System, Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Metabolic Disorders, Gastrointestinal, and Other Therapeutic Areas), Process/Phase (Target ID/Validation, Hit Generation, and Selection, Lead Identification, and Lead Optimization), and Geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle-East and Africa, and South America). The market report also covers the estimated market sizes and trends for 17 different countries across major regions globally. The report offers the value (in USD million) for the above segments.

Report scope can be customized per your requirements. Click here.

Key Market Trends

The Target ID/Validation Segment is Expected to hold a Significant Market Share over the Forecast Period

Target identification is made to identify the direct molecular target, such as protein or nucleic acid, of a small molecule. In the case of clinical pharmacology, target identification is aimed at finding out the efficacy of the target of the drug molecule. The main objective of target validation is to identify and access the chances of a molecular target in achieving the development of pharmaceuticals for therapeutic application.

Three key distinct and complementary approaches are used for target identification and validation, which include genetic interaction methods, direct biochemical methods, and computational interference methods. In many cases, combinations of multiple approaches may be required for the full characterization of the target.

Technology plays a crucial role in every aspect of small molecule drug discovery, starting from target identification and validation to lead optimization. Hence, technological advancements have been acting as a driving factor for the industry. For instance, in October 2020, Standigm Inc. and SK holdings C&C, Co., Ltd opened their Artificial iNtelligence-based target identification platform, iCLUE&ASK, on a trial basis to the public. The platform offers to prioritize protein targets for a query disease and provides the results with evidence through an interactive user interface. ​ Furthermore, in April 2021, Shionogi & Co., Ltd. entered a research collaboration agreement with InveniAI LLC. The agreement includes artificial Intelligence-powered multi-target drug discovery in the area of the psycho-neurological system using AlphaMeld. It is an AI drug discovery platform that enables the identification of multiple targets related to a specific disease and the mechanisms for treating those diseases.​

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has drawn global attention, prompting the urgent need to find specific and broad-spectrum antiviral drugs. A significant number of major biotech firms are in the midst of a race to investigate the Sars-Cov-2 genome and prepare therapeutics for the same. For instance, in November 2020, the South Korean pharma company, Samsung Biologics, entered a long-term agreement with Eli Lilly and Company to manufacture its investigational COVID-19 virus-neutralizing antibody, bamlanivimab. Therefore, this is expected to further drive the segment studied over the forecast period.

To understand key trends, Download Sample Report