Anti-Infective Drugs Global Market Report 2022, By Type, Drug Type, Distribution Channel, Drug Classification, Mode Of Purchase

Executive Summary

Major companies in the anti-infective drugs market include Gilead Sciences, GlaxosmithKline, Merck & Co., Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc., AbbVie, Bayer AG, Mylan N.V., Shionogi and F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

The global anti-infective drugs market is expected to grow from $220.0 billion in 2021 to $246.80 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.2%. The change in growth trend is mainly due to the companies stabilizing their output after catering to the demand that grew exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The market is expected to reach $366.96 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 10.4%.

The anti-infective drugs market consists of sales of branded and generic anti-infective drugs and related services by entities (organizations, sole traders and partnerships) that manufacture branded or generic anti-infective drugs to treat microbial infections. The anti-infective drugs industry includes establishments that manufacture antibiotics to treat bacterial infections, anti-viral drugs to treat viral infections, anti-fungal drugs to treat fungal infections, anti-helminthic drugs to kill internal parasites, and antiprotozoal agents to treat protozoan infections. The anti-infective drugs market is segmented into antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and others (anthelminthic, antiprotozoal).

The main drug types of anti-infective drugs are antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and others (anthelminthic, antiprotozoal). Antibiotics are drugs that either kill or slow the growth of bacteria. The drugs are available in the form of pharmaceutical drugs and biologics. The drugs are administered through oral, parenteral, and others that are classified into branded and generic drugs. The various mode of purchase includes prescription-based drugs and over-the-counter drugs which are distributed by hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies/ drug stores, and others.

North America was the largest region in the anti-infective drugs in 2021. Middle East is expected to be the fastest growing region in the forecast period. The regions covered in this report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa.

The anti-infective drugs market is expected to benefit from the latest developments in drug discovery procedures such as stem cells and organ-on-chip (OOC) technologies. OOCs are micro-engineered biometric systems that simulate the activities, mechanics and physiological responses of organ systems. Drug trial processes such as target identification, validation, and screening are being executed through OOC and stem cell technologies. These technologies are considerably reducing the drug discovery costs and generating reliable predictions on drug efficiency and human safety. Another area of development is physiology-simulation modelling, in which the integrated physiology of the human organism, in both health and disease, is simulated through a computer program. Eli Lilly and Pfizer have adopted Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) platform to conduct simulation models in early stages of the drug discovery process that are operational within hours, whereas traditional models take weeks to conduct simulations. The wide adoption of these technologies is expected to drive the anti-infective drugs market in the forecast period.

The anti-infective drugs market is expected to be restrained by the increasing number of antimicrobial resistance cases due to growing ineffectiveness of conventional anti-infective drugs such as penicillin. Antimicrobial resistance is the final stage of the adaptation process of microorganisms such as bacteria to the environment developing the ability to resist the effects of anti-infective drugs. This is mainly caused by the overuse and misuse of anti-infective drugs such as antibiotics. The excessive use and misuse of anti-infective drugs increases the rate of the bacteria’s resistance, with an estimated 70% of bacteria ever discovered already being resistant to at least one anti-infective drug which was commonly used to treat them in the past. It is expected that deaths caused by antimicrobial resistance will rise to 10 million deaths by 2050. Increasing incidences of bacteria’s resistance to anti-infective drugs are expected to limit the use of anti-infective drugs, affecting the market’s growth.

Anti-infective drug manufacturers are investing in programs to develop drugs to treat drug resistant infections. Antimicrobial resistance is a serious concern to global public health as it resulted in long duration of illness, the requirement of additional tests and use of more expensive drugs. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi change and adapted to drugs when they are exposed to antimicrobial drugs such as antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, anthelmintics and others. According to World Health Organization (WHO), globally 4, 80,000 people are being affected by multi-drug resistant TB each year and drug resistance is starting to complicate the treatment of malaria and HIV as well. Companies are investing in developing the new drug candidates to treat drug-resistant infections. For instance, in 2019, the antibacterial agents imipenem, cilastatin and relebactam combination, pretomanid, lefamulin, and cefiderocol was approved by the US FDA in the field of resistant bacteria treatment for specific indications .

The countries covered in the anti-infective drugs market report are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, UK, USA, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Companies Mentioned

• Gilead Sciences
• GlaxosmithKline
• Merck & Co.
• Johnson & Johnson
• Pfizer Inc.
• AbbVie
• Bayer AG
• Mylan N.V.
• Shionogi
• F.Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

Methodology