Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market Report 2025

This Drug Discovery Outsourcing market report provides a comprehensive analysis of the market’s characteristics, size, and growth, including segmentation, regional and country-level breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends, and strategies. It also tracks historical and forecasted market growth across various geographies.

The drug discovery outsourcing market size has grown strongly in recent years. It will grow from $3.92 billion in 2024 to $4.24 billion in 2025 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.1%. The growth in the historic period can be attributed to the growing complexity of drug discovery, the need for specialized expertise, stringent regulatory requirements, the globalization of clinical trials, and the rise in demand for orphan drugs and personalized medicine.

The drug discovery outsourcing market size is expected to see strong growth in the next few years. It will grow to $5.72 billion in 2029 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.8%. The growth in the forecast period can be attributed to increasing expenses in research and development, patent expirations, the expansion of the biopharmaceutical sector, focus on core competencies, and pressure to reduce time-to-market. Major trends in the forecast period include the adoption of artificial intelligence, technological advancements, big data analytics, specialty drugs, and collaboration and strategic partnerships.

The increasing prevalence of chronic diseases is likely to drive the growth of the drug discovery outsourcing market. Chronic diseases, which are long-term health conditions that can persist for years or a lifetime, are becoming more common due to factors such as an aging population, lifestyle choices, urbanization, and environmental influences. Outsourcing drug discovery helps expedite the development of treatments for chronic diseases by providing access to specialized expertise and advanced technologies, thereby reducing time and costs. For example, in June 2024, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported that 61% of the Australian population, about 15.4 million people, had at least one long-term health condition, which contributed to 90% of deaths in 2022. Conditions like anxiety affected 1.3 million (16%) of individuals aged 0-24 and 1.6 million (22%) of those aged 25-44. Back problems were noted in 1.5 million (23%) of people aged 45-64, and 1.3 million (32%) of individuals aged 65 and older experienced deafness or hearing loss. This rising prevalence of chronic diseases is fueling growth in the drug discovery outsourcing market.

Companies in the drug discovery outsourcing sector are focusing on innovations such as digital health solutions to better serve healthcare professionals, regulators, and patients. Digital health solutions include technologies and services like telemedicine, mobile health apps, and wearable devices that improve healthcare delivery, patient engagement, and health management. For instance, in November 2023, AstraZeneca PLC, a UK-based biopharmaceutical company, introduced Evinova, a health-tech business aimed at advancing life sciences innovation and improving clinical trial delivery. Evinova focuses on global digital products and services that have demonstrated effectiveness in AstraZeneca's clinical trials across more than 40 countries. By enhancing clinical trial design and execution, Evinova aims to streamline new medicine development, reducing both time and costs.

In July 2024, Selvita SA, a Poland-based company specializing in drug discovery, research, and development services, acquired PozLab for an undisclosed sum. This acquisition strengthens Selvita’s capabilities in drug development, positioning the company as a comprehensive solution provider in the pharmaceutical industry and expanding its offerings to include small molecule drug manufacturing services for early-stage clinical trials. PozLab is a Poland-based contract development organization that provides end-to-end pharmaceutical development services.

Major companies operating in the drug discovery outsourcing market are Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, Eurofins SE, Charles River Laboratories, QIAGEN N.V., Curia Global Inc., EVOTEC, Pharmaron Beijing Co. Ltd., Genscript Biotech, WuXi AppTec, Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC, Syngene International Limited, Jubilant Biosys, Dalton Pharma Services, Oncodesign Services, DiscoverX Corp., Domainex Ltd., Exscientia, TCG Lifesciences Pvt Ltd., GVK Biosciences Private Limited.

North America was the largest region in the drug discovery outsourcing market in 2023. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period. The regions covered in the drug discovery outsourcing market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa. The countries covered in the drug discovery outsourcing market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Spain.

Drug discovery outsourcing involves pharmaceutical companies contracting external organizations to handle various stages of the drug discovery process, such as target identification, lead optimization, and preclinical testing. This practice leverages specialized expertise, reduces costs, and speeds up development timelines.

The main types of drug discovery outsourcing include chemistry services and biological services. Chemistry services encompass specialized chemical expertise, including the synthesis, analysis, and optimization of drug candidates. The workflow typically involves target identification and screening, target validation and functional informatics, lead identification and candidate optimization, and preclinical development. Disease models used in these services include in vitro models, animal models, and cellular models. These services cater to various therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular, central nervous system (CNS), gastrointestinal, hematology, respiratory, infectious diseases, oncology, immunology, and more. End users include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions, and other organizations.

The drug discovery outsourcing market research report is one of a series of new reports that provides drug discovery outsourcing market statistics, including the drug discovery outsourcing industry's global market size, regional shares, competitors with a drug discovery outsourcing market share, detailed drug discovery outsourcing market segments, market trends and opportunities, and any further data you may need to thrive in the drug discovery outsourcing industry. This drug discovery outsourcing market research report delivers a complete perspective of everything you need, with an in-depth analysis of the current and future scenarios of the industry.

The drug discovery outsourcing market includes revenues earned by entities by providing services such as trial design, site management, patient recruitment, and data collection and analysis. The market value includes the value of related goods sold by the service provider or included within the service offering. Only goods and services traded between entities or sold to end consumers are included.

The market value is defined as the revenues that enterprises gain from the sale of goods and/or services within the specified market and geography through sales, grants, or donations in terms of the currency (in USD, unless otherwise specified).

The revenues for a specified geography are consumption values that are revenues generated by organizations in the specified geography within the market, irrespective of where they are produced. It does not include revenues from resales along the supply chain, either further along the supply chain or as part of other products.

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