3D Cell Culture Market

Market Overview

The global 3D cell culture market size was valued at USD 1,742.6 million in 2022. It is expected to reach USD 6,835.5 million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 16.4% during the forecast period (2023–2031). Factors like the benefits of using 3D culture techniques over 2D culture and increased spending on R&D activities stimulate market growth.

A 3D cell culture is characterized as an arrangement of biological cells in an in-vitro setting that closely resembles the in-vivo circumstances in the human body. The three main categories under which 3D cell cultures are classified are traditional cultures, organ-on-chip models, and tissue bioengineering. 3D cell culture technology is acknowledged as a crucial tool in drug discovery, toxicology testing, tissue engineering, and basic research because of its advantages over conventional methods. Extracellular matrix (ECM) components can be expressed and improve interactions with the cultural environment when cells are cultured in three dimensions (3D).

Market Dynamics

Global 3D Cell Culture Market Drivers

Benefits of Using 3D Culture Techniques Over 2D Culture

Cells have been cultured in 2D (monolayer) attached to labware over substrates since the invention of cell culture techniques. It is challenging to carry out these in-vitro experiments and translate the results to clinical trials because this artificial environment does not closely resemble the physiological conditions found in the human body. Additionally, the extracellular matrix and several other biological processes are constantly exposed to and interacted with by the body's cells. But the frequent loss of cell functionality, phenotype, and morphology, primarily for specialized cells, is seen in in-vitro cell culture on 2D surfaces. This cell culture is a poor representation of in-vivo circumstances. On the other hand, 3D cell cultures address these issues by accurately simulating the in vivo environment, making them a superior model. Due to their advantages over 2D cell cultures, 3D cell cultures are becoming more popular, fueling the market's expansion during the study period.

Increased Spending on R&D Activities

3D cell cultures in several medical applications, including drug discovery and development, stem cell research, and cancer therapies, drive biological research. This is mainly made possible by their capacity to reproduce bodily processes and functions from the molecular level up to the level of an entire organism. Various pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies have begun investing in research-based activities to reduce the overall cost and time for drug discovery, treatments, and therapeutics. The healthcare sector has seen increased public and private organizations investments over the last few decades. Government agencies or other well-established businesses invest in small start-up businesses. Thus, the overall increase in funding and investments from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and organizations will soon accelerate the growth of the global 3D cell culture market.

Global 3D Cell Culture Market Restraints

Increased Implementation Expenses

3D cell cultures are more sophisticated than traditional monolayered cultures, so they call for cutting-edge cell culture supplies. The overall direct cost of the experiment rises as a result of this. Although 3D cell cultures have advantages, 3D scaffolds and materials are more expensive than lab equipment for 2D cell cultures. The use of 3D cell culture in drug discovery may thus result in drug development costs that are unaffordable because of the enormous number of experiments required. Furthermore, specialized microscopes examine the protein or gene expression in 3D cell culture. Synthetic hydrogels and ECM proteins also raise the price. These factors make 3D cell cultures less desirable for research because they increase the overall cost of the entire experimental process. Over the analysis period, this is anticipated to impede the market's growth.

Global 3D Cell Culture Market Opportunities

Technological Progress

Technology is playing a big part in the overall process as a result of the numerous advancements in the medical field. One such innovation that has dramatically increased in popularity is 3D cell culture. Over the past few years, cell-based approaches have become more prevalent in drug development, gradually replacing biochemical assays. 3D cell culture technology has the potential to produce in-vitro results of higher quality and has gained a great deal of acceptance in the drug development industry. Additionally, using imaging techniques, researchers were able to reach significant conclusions thanks to the development of a 3D microtissue. 

Several businesses are developing imaging products to capture 3D images that can be analyzed and further researched to develop novel therapeutics. As a result of these developments in healthcare-related products, 3D cell cultures are becoming more widely accepted for use in research across various industry verticals. The market has grown due to the use of 3D cell culture products in fields like cancer research, regenerative medicine, and stem cell research. Furthermore, by using 3D scaffolds to create tissues, 3D multi-material printing technology can deliver customized features for using 3D actuators in tissue engineering. Therefore, it is anticipated that the technological developments in 3D cell culture products and devices will soon generate lucrative opportunities for the market's expansion.

Regional Analysis

The global 3D cell culture market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.

North America Dominates the Global Market

North America is the most significant revenue contributor and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14.3% during the forecast period. It is predicted that the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will make up most of the market for 3D cell culture in North America. Due to numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms that use 3D culture technology in cooperation with research institutions and clinical laboratories for developing regenerative medicines and drug discovery and development, it is anticipated to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. During the forecast period, the U.S. 3D cell culture market is expected to hold the largest share of the overall North American market. The rising demand for 3D culture products is primarily explained by the increased demand for organ transplantation and the R&D activities aimed at technologically advanced solutions. To expedite the research process, healthcare companies have also been working together and supporting various research institutes.

Europe is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.6% during the forecast period. Germany, France, the UK, and the rest of Europe are all studied as one European region. In the global 3D cell culture market, the region is anticipated to come second. Leading biopharmaceutical companies are present in this area, and the increase in funding activities by private organizations is attributed to this. In addition, over the past few years, Europe has seen significant biotechnological R&D for organoids and product developments at the forefront of academia and industry. Additionally, more research is being done on cancer diagnosis and treatment due to the increase in cancer prevalence. More and more, 3D cell cultures are being used to create personalized drug therapies for cancer patients. As a result, it is anticipated that 3D cell culture products will increase, supporting the market's growth. The increase in cancer prevalence is expected to be accompanied by an increase in R&D for drug discovery.

Four countries—Japan, China, India, Australia, and the rest of Asia-Pacific are included in the regional analysis. Over the forecast period, it is expected to grow faster. The demand for 3D cell culture products is increasing in the area because studies on cancer, stem cells, and regenerative medicine are more likely to use them. For instance, Okayama University in Japan developed a 3D cell culture pancreatic cancer model in August 2020 that replicates the fibrotic tissue seen in patients. The researchers will be able to tailor treatments to target different levels of fibrosis thanks to this model. Additionally, it is believed that China is an emerging market that presents tremendous newer opportunities for pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms looking to advance their R&D in drug development.

Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa are known as LAMEA. Brazil plays a significant role in the market expansion in LAMEA as a result of the rising demand for research in the healthcare sector. For instance, scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied the Zika virus using 3D mini-brains. Infection with the Zika virus is widespread in South Africa and Latin America. The advantages of 3D cell culture can be used to treat these diseases, which will help the market expand. Additionally, there are ongoing research projects on advanced cell culture initiatives for research purposes at the Centre of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences (PharmacenTM) of North West University (NWU), which is based in South Africa. It is currently collaborating with the Danish biotechnology company CelVivo IVS to use 3D cell culture technology to target cancer research. Many pharmaceutical companies are also growing their operations in the area because it is anticipated to present a profitable opportunity for geographic expansion and financial gain over the next few years.

Segmental Analysis

The global 3D cell culture market is segmented by product, application, and end-user.

Based on the product, the global market is bifurcated into the scaffold-based platform, scaffold-free platform, gels, bioreactors, microchips, and services.

The scaffold-based platform segment is the highest contributor to the market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17% during the forecast period. Cells are grown inside extracellular matrix or synthetic materials in scaffold-based platforms. The characteristics of the scaffold and the properties of the scaffold's material affect cell adhesion, proliferation, and activation. A variety of characteristics, including the materials used, the rate at which new tissue forms, and the scaffold properties, should be changed to suit the application to achieve the required mechanical function and speed of new tissue formation. The scaffold's pore distribution, porosity, and exposed surface area can affect how well the regenerative process ultimately works by affecting how cells penetrate the extracellular matrix and how quickly they do so.

Platforms without a scaffold do not have any extracellular matrix or other biomaterials. The lack of a surface on these platforms forces cells to create and arrange their 3D extracellular matrix, closely resembling in-vivo tissues. Spheroids are these spherical clusters of cell colonies that self-assemble. These techniques make an excellent physiological model because they accurately mimic the metabolic and proliferative gradients that cells naturally produce, such as nutrients, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and wastes.

Based on the application, the global market is bifurcated into cancer research, stem cell research, drug discovery, and regenerative medicine.

The cancer research segment is the highest contributor to the market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.5% during the forecast period. The extracellular matrix (ECM), stromal cells, cancer stem cells, and proliferating tumor cells are all necessary to reproduce a tumor with typical cell morphology and function in an in-vitro setting. These elements affect, interact, and ultimately bring the tumor cell culture model to life. These tumor cells lose the interactions when they are removed from the human body and cultured in a 2D environment, which alters how they react to cancer treatments. However, 3D cell culture models can be used for cancer research because they closely resemble the tumor microenvironment.

Due to intensive R&D, 3D culture techniques are now used as an effective tool in preclinical drug discovery and are no longer restricted to the research community. A wide variety of 3D cell culture technologies have been developed thanks to recent developments in cell biology and tissue engineering methods. These include, among other things, scaffolds, multicellular spheroids, hydrogels, 3D bioprinting, and organoids. As a result, 3D cell culture models are now being used more frequently during various stages of the drug discovery process. The lead identification, preclinical optimization, and target validation phases are where 3D cell cultures are most commonly used.

Additionally, because these cultures enable the in-vitro growth of cells specific to a patient, implementing 3D cell cultures in pathophysiologies may offer lucrative opportunities for developing precisely personalized medicines for diseases. Furthermore, because the drug sensitivity in 3D models differs noticeably from that in 2D cell culture models, 3D cell cultures are crucial for drug discovery and development. Similarly, improvements in screening methods are anticipated to aid in early drug toxicity and physiologically valuable data collection, accelerating the drug discovery process.

Based on the end-user, the global market is bifurcated into biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, contract research laboratories, and academic institutes.

The academic institutes segment is the highest contributor to the market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.5% during the forecast period. Many institutes and universities worldwide are investigating the potential outcomes of using 3D cell cultures in their research projects, considering the ongoing drug discovery, development, and screening practices. Due to the increased demand for 3D cell cultures for various healthcare applications, several businesses have partnered with research organizations and clinical laboratories. Additionally, many academic institutions have concentrated their R&D efforts on 3D culture models to create new methods for treating various medical conditions. For instance, a current study at a research university in the Helmholtz Association explores recent advancements in 3D culture-based micro-bioreactor systems, their equivalent in-vitro models, and potential applications.

3D cell culture models are anticipated to speed up the development of new therapies and treatments because they provide the cells with a more natural environment. New models for researching diseases and tissue development include 3D cell cultures. Over the forecast period, demand is expected to increase from some pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies because they are better at predicting drug response or toxicity than 2D cultivated cells. These characteristics of 3D cells allow for the preliminary elimination of unrelated drug candidates and the validation of relevant drug compounds. Utilizing 3D cell cultures to study drug responses enables early authenticity verification, resulting in resource, time, and cost savings. Thus, these disease models can speed up the development of more effective and reliable treatments by biotech and pharmaceutical companies. The growth of the pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies segment in the global 3D cell culture market is also primarily driven by various technological advancements, significant investments in R&D activities, an increase in demand for 3D cell culture in biomedical applications, and FDA approvals for 3D cell cultured medical products.

Recent Developments

• August 2022- BICO acquired Advanced BioMatrix, a creative business specializing in 3D applications so that the two companies could work together to ensure a market-leading portfolio of bio-inks and reagents.
• May 2021- Hamilton and InSphero announced a partnership to enhance the handling and production of spheroids using advanced liquid handling technology.