Pharmaceutical Intermediates Global Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the pharmaceutical intermediates market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global pharmaceutical intermediates market reached a value of nearly $31.32 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $31.32 billion in 2023 to $43.24 billion in 2028 at a rate of 6.7%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2028 and reach $63.24 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from increase in pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) expenditure, strong economic growth in emerging markets, the increasing focus on personalized medicine and the growing chemical industry. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period was stringent regulations on approval of pharmaceutical drugs.

Going forward, the rising prevalence of chronic diseases, the increasing size of the aging population and growth of pharmaceutical manufacturing will drive the growth. Factor that could hinder the growth of the pharmaceutical intermediates market in the future include high cost of manufacturing.

The pharmaceutical intermediates market is segmented by product into chemical intermediate, bulk drug intermediate and other products. The bulk drug intermediate market was the largest segment of the pharmaceutical intermediates market segmented by product, accounting for 48.9% or $15.33 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the other products segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the pharmaceutical intermediates market segmented by product, at a CAGR of 7.3% during 2023-2028.

The pharmaceutical intermediates market is segmented by category into branded drug intermediate and generic drug intermediate. The generic drug intermediate market was the largest segment of the pharmaceutical intermediates market segmented by category, accounting for 60% or $18.79 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, it is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the pharmaceutical intermediates market segmented by category, at a CAGR of 7.1% during 2023-2028.

The pharmaceutical intermediates market is segmented by application into oncology drugs, anti-infective drugs, central nervous system drugs, respiratory diseases drugs, cardiovascular drugs, musculoskeletal disorders drugs, metabolic disorders drugs and other applications. The other applications market was the largest segment of the pharmaceutical intermediates market segmented by application, accounting for 19.2% or $6.02 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the metabolic disorders drugs segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the pharmaceutical intermediates market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 9.1% during 2023-2028.

The pharmaceutical intermediates market is segmented by end-user into biotech and pharma companies, research institutions and other end-users. The biotech and pharma companies’ market was the largest segment of the pharmaceutical intermediates market segmented by end-user, accounting for 81.3% or $25.46 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the research institutions segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the pharmaceutical intermediates market segmented by end-user, at a CAGR of 7.9% during 2023-2028.

North America was the largest region in the pharmaceutical intermediates market, accounting for 38.8% or $12.14 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by Asia Pacific, Western Europe and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the pharmaceutical intermediates market will be Asia Pacific and North America where growth will be at CAGRs of 9.8% and 5.7% respectively. These will be followed by Western Europe and Eastern Europe where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 5.2% and 4.3% respectively.

The global pharmaceutical intermediates market is fairly fragmented, with a large number of players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 10.2% of the total market in 2022. BASF SE was the largest competitor with a 2.8% share of the market, followed by Evonik Industries AG with 2.1%, Pfizer Inc with 1.4%, Arkema Inc with 1.1%, Koninklijke DSM N.V. with 0.9%, Cambrex Corporation with 0.9%, Lianhe Chemical Technology Co Ltd with 0.4%, Ercros, S.A. with 0.2%, Lonza Group AG with 0.2% and Codexis, Inc with 0.2%.

The top opportunities in the pharmaceutical intermediates market segmented by product will arise in the bulk drug intermediate segment, which will gain $5.75 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the pharmaceutical intermediates market segmented by category will arise in the generic drug intermediate segment, which will gain $7.73 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the pharmaceutical intermediates market segmented by application will arise in the oncology drugs segment, which will gain $2.97 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the pharmaceutical intermediates market segmented by end-user will arise in the biotech and pharma companies segment, which will gain $9.43 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The pharmaceutical intermediates market size will gain the most in the USA at $3.52 billion.

Market-trend-based strategies for the pharmaceutical intermediates market include innovative AI solutions for seamless integration of drug discovery and synthesis, strategic partnerships and acquisitions among market players to drive innovation in the market, innovative product launches to support the evolution of safe and effective medicines, focus on production facility expansions, quick response (QR) code labelling to track all drug-related information and focus on green chemistry to reduce the environmental impact of synthetic chemistry.

Player-adopted strategies in the pharmaceutical intermediates market include focus on strategic partnerships and collaborations to better serve the industry and to strengthen position in the market, focus on launching new product lines to better serve the industry and focus on enhancing business operations through new mergers and acquisitions.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the pharmaceutical intermediates companies to focus on integrating ai technologies for enhanced pharmaceutical intermediates, focus on diversifying product portfolio for enhanced market presence, focus on strategic expansion of production facilities, focus on green chemistry for sustainable growth, focus on diversifying product portfolio for enhanced market presence, focus on strategic expansion of production facilities, focus on green chemistry for sustainable growth, focus on bulk drug intermediates for sustained growth, focus on generic drug intermediates, expand in emerging markets, continue to focus on developed markets, focus on strategic partnerships, focus on diversified distribution channels for market expansion, provide competitively priced offerings, focus on strategic pricing for market competitiveness, participate in trade shows and events, continue to use B2B promotions, focus on integrated promotion for market visibility, focus on metabolic disorders and oncology drugs application segments and focus on biotech and pharma companies for robust growth.