According to the report, the market for APIs was valued at $164.89 billion in 2020 and could soar to $339.08 billion by the year 2030.
APIs are the biologically active components of drug products in capsules, tablets and other delivery formats. This leads the API and pharmaceutical industries to be highly co-dependent and subject to shifts in the healthcare landscape.
One major trend in healthcare is the rising proportion of older adults in the population in many countries, accompanied by growth in chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. This leads to higher spending on healthcare, and drives up demand for APIs and other pharmaceuticals, said the report.
The report also saw API manufacturing growing more advanced and gaining more government support, shoring up the growth of the space. Other driving factors include a growing number of strategic acquisitions & partnerships and the growing demand for complex biologic APIs.
One recent highlight by the report was the World Health Organization (WHO)’s prequalification of an API developed by the Indian company Solara Active Pharma Sciences Limited. The API, named Flucytosine, is designed for use in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections and similar conditions.
The report also observed an increased outsourcing of API manufacturing to contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs). This coincides with reports in July of generics giant Teva Pharmaceuticals potentially looking for buyers for its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) unit.
Other factors that are important to monitor for the API industry include increased scrutiny by regulatory authorities in the manufacturing process and the growing importance of emerging markets such as China and India in API manufacturing.