Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, API
2024 Market Insight, CDMO Pricing and Competitor Benchmarking
Over 1,000 cumulative hours of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis have been utilized to craft two editions of Nice Insight’s Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients: Market Analysis, CDMO Pricing and Benchmarking study.
Here are some facts about the 2024 report:
Research Started:
July 2023
Primary & Secondary Data Collection:
July 2023–August 2023
Collation & Analysis:
July 2023–December 2023
Development & Validation:
November 2023–December 2023
Report Published:
March 2024
Revised July 2024
About This Report
The second edition of Nice Insight’s small molecule API report extends the work that we put into the 2022 edition, including updated market analysis and trending information, new tables and figures, current 2024 pricing benchmarks, and a complete overhaul of our presentation of the competitive landscape.
A competitive landscape with detailed profiles of leading small molecule API CDMOs to support informed outsourcing decision and industry peer comparison, along with a services summary table to allow direct, easy comparison of key capabilities.
Current pricing information for individual API manufacturing CDMO services was obtained from primary analysis and interviews with industry experts representing both CDMOs and buyers of CDMO services.
Projections for ongoing growth of the small molecule API market, including growth rates of different market segments (innovator vs. generic drugs; high-potency APIs, growth drivers, etc.).
Analysis of R&D pipelines and technological innovations in synthetic chemistry and biocatalytic manufacturing, continuous manufacturing, chiral technologies, digitalization, and more.
Input from subject matter experts (SMEs) from contract development and manufacturing service providers and buyers of outsourced services.
Find Out Insights and Answers to These Questions
How is the CDMO market for small molecule APIs evolving, and what are the key trends driving change?
What services are offered by CDMOs for APIs, and to what extent are CDMOs integrating complementary services?
Is the fragmented pharmaceutical CDMO market consolidating, and are acquisitions driven more by capabilities or capacity?
What are the most pressing challenges faced by both pharma companies and manufacturers?
How tight is global manufacturing capacity, and how are CDMOs contributing to the expansion of capacity?
How has the industry reconsidered global supply chains in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic?
How are the markets for innovator and generic APIs shifting, and what is the impact on the manufacturing sector?
Who are my CDMO competitors for small molecule APIs in North America and Europe?
Who are the best CDMO providers in my region?
Which CDMOs provide full end-to-end services, including development, manufacturing, formulation, and more?
How is demand for HPAPIs trending, and does the available capacity and containment meet that demand?
How are analytical technologies evolving, and what has their impact been?
What new enzymatic and chemocatalytic technologies are driving new upstream efficiencies?
What advances have been made in downstream processing for small molecule APIs?
What innovations are increasing throughput in development and manufacturing?
For what therapeutic areas are first-in-class small molecule drugs being approved?
Have supply chain issues had a significant impact on manufacturing, and when will they be resolved?
Has the pharmaceutical industry reconsidered globalization, and what impact has reshoring and domestic sourcing had on the landscape of small molecule API manufacturing?
How is the industry proceeding on its journey toward digitalization?
What’s Included in This Report
Post-COVID Pricing Information
costs for 47 individual line items for research, development, and manufacturing captured and updated for 2024.
109 API CDMO Profiles
including specific chemistries, capabilities, capacities, and locations.
Analysis of Small Molecule API Market Trends
with a pipeline overview spanning different scientific processes, therapeutic areas, regions, and scales.
Market Growth Research
including growth projections and market segmentation on APIs, HPAPIs, innovator and generic drugs, etc.
In-Depth Scientific Insight
from scientific, manufacturing, and procurement SMEs across the industry.
Emerging Technology
for manufacturing and supply chain management of APIs.
Study Methodology
For the second edition of Nice Insight’s small molecule API market report, we have compiled up-to-date primary, proprietary data and a survey of secondary data from the published literature and industry databases to build upon our past work and to provide a fresh vista on the API market and the outsourced development and manufacturing sector. The quantitative research that we performed is supplemented by direct interviews conducted with multiple subject matter experts with diverse roles in the sector to obtain qualitative perspectives on the dynamics of the space.
The resulting report reflects a mixture of specific data, overall assessments, and subjective insight and interpretation. It is impossible to cover every aspect of the sector, in granular detail in a single report so we focused instead on essential background and on the current dynamics and information most critical for the reader to make smart decisions in the market. Our goal is to support readers who represent an API CDMO, a pharma company that purchases CDMO services, or a private equity or venture capital investor looking to understand the current state of the market. References are provided where specific information is listed. Readers interested in greater detail on any specific subject are directed to pursue those references.
The content included here reflects in total over 1,000 hours of dedicated research, interviews, analysis, and composition, both to develop the original 2022 edition and to create this updated 2024 report.
A team comprising six (6) Ph.D.-level experts collaborated with a group of 25+ existing clients representing CDMOs within the API sector to probe and better understand benchmarks, current challenges, and the future of the industry.
We conducted a comprehensive survey of the key players in the sector to develop informative small molecule API CDMO profiles for comparison.
An internal consultant with over 25 years of industry experience worked for over six months to advise on big-picture trends shaping the industry and to unify the data into a holistic view.
Individual interviews were performed with SMEs representing leadership, CMC, manufacturing, and other operations at small molecule CDMOs to discuss pricing for contract development and manufacturing services, focusing on typical line-item deliverables for API programs from RFP pricing sheets.
During the entire project, we consulted repeatedly with pharmaceutical companies of different size that are buyers of CDMO services for small molecule API programs, to understand the different needs reflected by different business models.
We interviewed owners of medium-to-large CDMOs to discuss production methods, capacity, investments, and human resource issues, among other topics.