Pharmaceutical excipients market to witness expansion

A report published by MarketsandMarkets has estimated that the pharmaceutical excipients market will value $14.9 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 6.8 percent between 2023 to 2028.

This is compared to the expected revenue for the market in 2023 reaching $10.7 billion.

Excipients market opportunities and limitations

Major contributing factors regarding growth of the pharmaceutical excipients market are: increasing demand for generic drugs and drug products, increased investment in R&D for the development of novel excipients and rising emphasis on patient-centric formulations. Additionally, industry collaborations and partnerships for customised excipients are likely to help the market grow in the near future, the report found.

According to the research, a key limitation for the market are the high development costs associated with novel excipients. A key challenge are strict regulations, which can hinder the development of the overall excipients market.

However, considering growth potential, it was noted in the report that functional/multifunctional pharmaceutical excipients offer development opportunity within the sector.

Moreover, the non-toxic nature of organic chemicals is expected to drive the organic chemicals sectors, ultimately boosting the pharmaceutical excipient market in the forecast period (2023 to 2028).

Within the excipient market, in terms of functionality type, lubricants and glidants are expected to grow at the fastest rate, as they can improve a formulation’s flow properties.

Globally, the region anticipated to have the fastest market growth is the Asia Pacific region. This is because of the low labour and manufacturing costs in China and India, meaning major pharmaceutical companies are attracted significant investments from pharmaceutical giants to these countries.

Developing and regulating pharmaceutical excipients 

In August 2023, EPR reported on the European Medicines Agency (EMA)’s regulatory perspective on nitrosamine mitigation strategies. The publication highlighted that while nitrite concentration in excipients are a “key risk factor in nitrosamine drug substance related impurities (NDSRI) formation, there is opportunity to implement corrective and preventative actions (CAPAs).”

In October 2023, one of the winners of the 2023 CPHI Pharma Award was Lubrizol Life Science Health. The company was given the Finished Formulation Award for Apisolex Polymer solubilising excipient.

The report stated that key players in the global pharmaceutical excipients market include Merck KgaA, Evonik Industries AG, BASF SE and Wacker Chemie AG.