Conjugation and Labeling Services Market: Focus on Protein Labeling, Peptide Labeling, Small Molecule Conjugation and Antibody Conjugation: Industry Trends and Global Forecasts, 2023-2035

Conjugation and Labeling Services Market Overview

Conjugation is the process of formation of a single, stable hybrid, wherein one of the entities is a molecule, such as protein, antibody, peptide and small molecule. These molecules can be conjugated with various modalities, such as haptens, enzymes, isotopes, fluorescent tags, carrier proteins, polymers, particle conjugates and photoreactive molecules. Bioconjugation is a subset of conjugation where one of the entity is a biomolecule, such as protein or an antibody. The synergistic combination of the conjugates and biomolecules confer desired functions, which otherwise are difficult to achieve with individual counterparts. These functionalities offer increased membrane permeability, target specificity, circulation time and enhanced pharmacokinetic properties. It is interesting to highlight that when the modification with conjugates lead to detection (direct / indirect) in bioimaging and immunoassays, bioconjugation is also referred to as biomolecule labeling. Presently, industry stakeholders employ various labeling approaches (fluorescent labeling and isotopic labeling) for protein profiling in order to quantify the compounds, and monitor and visualize the biological processes. Over the last couple of years, the pharmaceutical industry has also witnessed the utility of these complex entities across several application areas, such as development of conjugated drug therapeutics, drug delivery systems, disease diagnosis, invention of diagnostic tools, and high-throughput screening. Presently, a number of players across the globe are actively engaged in providing efficient antibody conjugation services for research purposes. Further, given the rising demand for conjugated biomolecules in the field of research and development, the conjugation and labeling services market is anticipated to witness substantial growth in the foreseen future.

Key Market Insights

The Conjugation and Labeling Services Market: Focus on Protein Labeling, Peptide Labeling, Small Molecule Conjugation and Antibody Conjugation: Distribution by Type of Molecule Supported (Proteins, Peptides, Small Molecules, Antibodies and Other Molecules), Type of Molecular Conjugate / Label (Polymers, Haptens, Enzymes, Fluorescent Tags, Bead Coupling / Particle Conjugates, Quantum Dots, Isotopes and Other Molecular Conjugates / Labels), and Key Geographical Regions (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, and Latin America): Industry Trends and Global Forecasts, 2023-2035 report features an extensive study of the current market landscape, market size and the likely future potential of the conjugation and labeling services market, during the forecast period. Further, it highlights the efforts of several stakeholders engaged in this rapidly emerging domain of the pharmaceutical industry. Key inclusions of the report are briefly discussed below.

Need for Outsourcing Conjugation and Labeling Operations to Service Providers

A number of drug developers and research institutes currently lack the technical expertise related to bioconjugation chemistries, along with limited in-house capabilities and scarcity of advanced bioconjugation technologies, which are essential to carry out the process of conjugation. In order to leverage the relevant experience and expertise of service providers, several organizations prefer to outsource their antibody conjugation services and protein labeling operations. The service providers tend to be equipped with established methodologies, along with a wide range of reagent systems and conjugates required for the chemical modification of different biomolecules. These factors together will be responsible for market growth through increased outsourcing of protein labeling, antibody labeling and antibody conjugation services to the CROs.

Current Landscape of the Conjugation and Labeling Services Market

The current market landscape features the presence of over 170 companies providing antibody conjugation services and 120 companies providing service for protein labeling, spread across the globe. Overall, the market seems to be well-fragmented, featuring the presence of very large, large, mid-sized and small companies, which have the required expertise to offer bioconjugation services across different types of biomolecules, such as proteins, antibodies, peptides and small molecules. It is worth mentioning that 78% of the service providers offer antibody conjugation with haptens; notable examples (which have also been captured in this report) include AAT Bioquest, Abzena, Fina Biosolutions, Life Tein, ProSci, Synaptic Systems and ViroGen.

Segment Analysis - Antibody Conjugation Services are the most sought

Custom antibody conjugation for research purposes is the most sought service in this market. Some of the antibody conjugation services offered by the companies include conjugation with HRP conjugation, Biotin Conjugation and Fluorescent labeling services. Antibody labeling, which is also known as antibody conjugation, involves conjugating a tag to an antibody. In this report, we have captured all the antibody conjugation services that are relevant to research / diagnostic applications.

Segment Analysis - Fluorescent Tags are preferred tool for Biomolecule Labeling

Fluorescent tags are widely employed in the field of proteomics in order to detect the location of protein and quantity of the protein. These also lead to identification of conformational changes during protein complex formation and tracking the biological processes. Some of the companies also offer tagging of fluorescent probes with antibodies and peptides for research purposes.

Regional Analysis - North America to hold the Largest Share

Over the past few years, there has been a steady increase in the companies offering protein labeling, peptide labeling, small molecule conjugation and antibody conjugation services. Of these, majority of the bioconjugation service providers are based in North America.

Trend Analysis - Service Providers evolving to meet the market demand

Various stakeholders have been making consolidated efforts to forge alliance with other industry / non-industry players. It is worth highlighting that, since 2018, over 70 strategic partnerships have been inked, indicating that service providers are actively upgrading their conjugation related capabilities and accommodating the current and anticipated demand for bioconjugates. The field is continuously evolving; stakeholders are actively participating in events (webinars / conferences / seminars / meetings / symposiums / summits) related to bioconjugation and labeling of biomolecules. These events are likely to provide the necessary platform for companies to present their ideas, innovative bioconjugation methodologies / techniques and discuss various applications of bioconjugates to a wider audience. Given the inclination towards cutting-edge technologies, along with innovative approaches to tailor the biomolecules, we believe that the conjugation and labeling services market is likely to evolve at a rapid pace, during the forecast period 2023-2035.

Scope of the Report

The study presents an in-depth analysis, highlighting the capabilities of various stakeholders engaged in this domain, across different geographies. Amongst other elements, the report features:

• An executive summary of the insights captured during our research. It offers a high-level view on the current state of conjugation and labeling services market and its likely evolution in the mid-long term.
• A general overview of conjugation and labeling of biomolecules, highlighting the various advantages of biomolecule conjugation and labeling. It also provides details on the different types of biomolecular conjugates and labels. Further, the chapter concludes with a discussion on various applications of the conjugated and labeled biomolecules in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.
• A detailed assessment of the overall market landscape of the companies offering conjugation and labeling services, based on several relevant parameters, such as year of establishment, company size (in terms of number of employees), location of headquarters, type of molecule(s) supported (proteins, peptides, small molecules, antibodies and other molecules), type of molecular conjugate(s) / label(s) (polymers, haptens, enzymes, fluorescent tags, FRET pairs, quantum dots, carrier proteins, streptavidin, chelators, bead coupling / particle conjugates, isotopes, photoreactives and other molecular conjugates / labels) and conjugation service(s) offered.
• A company competitiveness analysis of conjugation and labeling service providers based on company strength (in terms of years of experience and company size) and service strength (in terms of type of molecule(s) supported, type of molecular conjugate(s) / label(s) and conjugation service(s) offered).
• Elaborate profiles of prominent players (shortlisted based on a proprietary criterion) offering conjugation and labeling services, located across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Each profile features a brief overview of the company, recent developments and an informed future outlook.
• A detailed analysis of the recent partnerships inked between stakeholders engaged in this domain, since 2018, covering acquisitions, service agreements, product development agreements, technology licensing agreements, and other relevant agreements.
• An in-depth analysis of recent events (webinars / conferences / seminars / meetings / symposiums / summits) that were organized for stakeholders in the bioconjugation domain, based on several relevant parameters, such as year of event, event platform, type of event, geography, key focus areas, most active event organizers, active industry and non-industry players (in terms of number of speakers), seniority level of event speakers and geographical mapping of upcoming events.
• A discussion on affiliated trends, key drivers and challenges, under a SWOT framework, featuring a Harvey ball analysis, highlighting the relative impact of each SWOT parameter on the overall conjugation and labeling services market.

One of the key objectives of the report was to evaluate the current opportunity and future potential associated with conjugation and labeling services market, over the forecast period. We have provided informed estimates of the likely evolution of the market in the short to mid-term and long term, for the period 2023-2035. Our year-wise projections of the current and future opportunity have further been segmented based on relevant parameters, such as type of molecule supported (proteins, peptides, small molecules, antibodies and other molecules), type of molecular conjugate / label (polymers, haptens, enzymes, fluorescent tags, bead coupling / particle conjugates, quantum dots, isotopes and other molecular conjugates / labels), and key geographical regions (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, and Latin America). In order to account for future uncertainties and to add robustness to our model, we have provided three market forecast scenarios, namely conservative, base and optimistic scenarios, representing different tracks of the market growth.

The opinions and insights presented in the report were influenced by discussions held with stakeholders in this domain.

The report features detailed transcripts of interviews held with the following industry stakeholders:

• Sudhirdas Prayaga (President and Chief Executive Officer, Antibody Research)
• Vishal Rai (Founder, Plabeltech)
• Alastair Dent (Managing Director and Quality Director, Fleet Bioprocessing)

All actual figures have been sourced and analyzed from publicly available information forums and primary research discussions. Financial figures mentioned in this report are in USD, unless otherwise specified.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: What is the global market size of antibody conjugation services market?

Answer: The global antibody conjugation services market is anticipated to be worth USD 1.9 million by 2030. 

Question 2: Which are the leading companies in the antibody conjugation services market?

Answer: Presently, more than 170 companies are engaged in offering antibody conjugation services, worldwide. The top players engaged in this domain (which have also been captured in this report) include Affinity Biologicals, BioLegend, Cell Signalling Technology, FAGUS Antibody Services, Novus Biologicals and ProteoGenix. 

Question 3: How many companies offer peptide conjugation services?

Answer: More than 150 service providers possess the capabilities to offer peptide conjugation services.

Question 4: What percentage of service providers are engaged in offering conjugation and labeling services with both fluorescent tags and enzymes?

Answer: Close to 50% of the companies claim to offer conjugation and labeling of biomolecules using both fluorescent tags and enzymes; examples include Affigenix Biosolutions, Designer BioScience, Diatheva, GenPro Biotech and LAMPIRE.

Question 5: How many service providers offer services related to antibody-enzyme bioconjugation?

Answer: Nearly 45% of the service providers claim to have the requisite capabilities to aid in the bioconjugation of antibodies with various enzymes.

Question 7: What are the major factors driving the conjugation and labeling services market?

Answer: The factors driving the conjugation and labeling services market include the surge in demand for novel bioconjugate drugs, advanced drug delivery systems, and enhanced biomedical imaging and biomolecular detection.

Question 8: What are the leading market segments in the conjugation and labeling services market?

Answer: In terms of type of molecular conjugate / label, polymers currently account for the largest share (close to 25%) of the global conjugation and labeling services market. This can be attributed to several advantages offered by these conjugates to the biomolecules, including increased therapeutic potential, better stability, improved physicochemical properties and structural integrity. Further, in terms of type of molecule supported, proteins are likely to capture 45% of the current and future market.

Question 9: Which region captures the highest share in the conjugation and labeling services market?

Answer: Presently, the conjugation and labeling services market is dominated by North America, capturing around 45% of the overall market, followed by Europe (29%).

Question 10: What is the likely growth rate (CAGR) for conjugation and labeling services market?

Answer: The conjugation and labeling services market is projected to grow at a CAGR of ~10% during the forecast period 2023-2035.