Drug Discovery Service Market Size & Outlook, 2025-2033

Drug Discovery Service Market Size & Trends

The global drug discovery service market size was valued at USD 13.52 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach from USD 15.41 billion in 2025 to USD 43.97 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 14.0% during the forecast period (2025-2033).

Drug discovery is the process of designing a new drug by employing various methods such as molecular manipulation, random screening, drug metabolites, and others. Drug discovery services are services and support to the drug discovery process that are designed to help minimize the costs and reduce the time investments in the discovery process. In pharmacology, biotechnology, and medicine domains, the method of drug discovery is a crucial process within R&D departments and thus, drug discovery services find major applications to enable the design and discovery of new therapeutics and medications. Further, drug target recognition, drug discovery selection, and drug design based on processes such as lead compound recognition, lead optimization, and others form the core of drug discovery services.

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Drug Discovery Service Marke Drivers

Growing Number of Activities in Drug R&d within the Pharma Sector

Currently, the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry is saturated with attempts and projects aimed to discover new therapeutics and drugs that address one of many diseases and conditions that burden the global population. Additionally, growing R&D investments owing to initiatives and funding for research on rare and lifestyle diseases, from a number of sources has further fueled the drug discovery processes across companies. Thus, this necessitates outsourcing analytical testing and clinical trial services that are essential for approval from regulatory bodies. Further, there has been an inclination of notable pharmaceutical companies toward outsourcing to test drugs for efficacy and other properties in order to avoid hurdles and reduce the need of dedicating in-house resources to design and validate drugs and therapeutic molecules. These factors cumulatively boost the growth of the Drug Discovery services market.

Drug Discovery Service Market Opportunities

A Gamut of Services and Technological Advancements Offered by Market Players in the Drug Discovery Services Market

The global drug discovery services market is filled with key players who offer a wide range of services for pharmaceutical companies. For instance, Eurofins service DiscoverX provides a broad-spectrum proprietary assay solution that covers the entire drug discovery process and further provides support in both target-based and phenotypic discovery. Thus, the rising adoption of such services and the introduction of new services fuels the market for further development. Further, technological advancements and an upsurge in the adoption of new techniques for discoveries have bolstered the usage of these services. Additionally, notable business expansions and strategic decisions from market players have also caused significant positive influence in the market. For instance, in 2020, Charles River, a key market player based out of the U.S., acquired HemaCare to strengthen its Research Models Services business segment.

Hemacare had a service portfolio of a broad range of human primary cell and cell processing services that has immense applicability in the discovery processes of cell therapies. Thus, this strategic acquisition enables the acquirer to expand its business reach by providing support in the cell therapy domain.

Drug Discovery Service Market Regional Insights

North America Dominates the Global Market

Based on the region, the American regional market held the majority of the share of the drug discovery services market. Further, the region is expected to maintain its high revenue generation during the forecast period. The dominance of this market segment over the global market can is attributed primarily to the presence of pharmaceutical giants such as Pfizer, Elli Lilly, Mylan, and others as well as well-established CROs who utilize these services in R&D.

On the other hand, rising R&D investments in oncology, diabetes, and cardiovascular therapeutics by pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies, owing to the ever-growing prevalence of major lifestyle and genetic diseases within the region also boasts the regional market. For example, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 92.1 million adults in the U.S. have been diagnosed with at least one type of cardiovascular disease. Further, around 86% of the healthcare expenditure in the United States is spent on chronic and mental health disease management. Additionally, the availability of the latest techniques, instruments, and facilities powered by technological advancements to focus on drug discovery research also fuels the regional market growth.

Asia-Pacific: Fastest-Growing Region

The APAC regional market is expected to witness a significant boost in the CAGR during the forecast period. This can be attributed to a number of factors such as the rising prevalence of chronic lifestyle disorders within the region that fuels companies to R&D therapeutics in these domains. Further, the growing number of biopharmaceutical companies within the region also boosts the market as more and more opportunities are created for drug discovery services. Further, business strategies and partnership within the region is expected to have a significant positive impact on the market. For instance, in 2020, Eurofins agreed to enter into a business partnership with PharmaResources (China) which is aimed to enable both companies to build a joint drug discovery platform to focus on small molecule drug development. Also growing investments for drug development has been a major driver within the market.

Segmental Analysis

Widespread Application of Medicinal Chemistry-Based Services

The medicinal chemistry services segment is anticipated to account for the largest share of the drug discovery services market. The large share of this segment is owing to a number of factors such as the widespread application of medicinal chemistry. Medicinal chemistry-based services are an essential part of various phases of preclinical and clinical trials during the development of drugs. Further, the segmental services play a crucial role in delivering robust candidates for drugs in understanding properties such as compound stability for in vivo studies, target selectivity, and solubility. These factors cumulatively catapult market growth projectile. Furthermore, the widespread usage of medicinal chemistry in academics, biotechnology companies as well as pharmaceutical companies have also positively impacted the market growth.

Increasing Number of Cancer Patients

Based on the therapeutic area, the oncology segment is anticipated to account for the greatest market share and is further expected to grow at the highest CAGR throughout the forecast period. The market dominance of the segment can be primarily attributed to the increasing global burden of cancer. The huge number of patients who are diagnosed with cancer has resulted in a subsequent increase in demand for cancer therapies. For instance, according to the American Institute of Cancer Research, there were an estimated 18 million cases of diagnosed cancer across all countries in the year 2018 out of which 9.5 million patients diagnosed were men and other 8.5 million cases were diagnosed in women. Further, key players also provide a lucrative portfolio of services that are addressing cancer therapies which promotes extensive adoption. For instance, Eurofins’major product DiscoverX based on scan Services is aimed to support cancer immunotherapy. The product offers a range of cell-based assays that help in screening & potency determination for immunotherapy drugs.

List of key players in Drug Discovery Service Market

1. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.(The U.S.)
2. Albany Molecular Research, Inc. (The U.S.)
3. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (The U.S.)
4. Evotec A.G. (Germany)
5. Domainex (UK)
6. GenScript Biotech Corporation (China)
7. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (The U.S.)
8. WuXi AppTec (China)
9. Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC (The U.S.)
10. Jubilant Biosys Ltd. (India)
11. Eurofins Scientific SE (Luxembourg)
12. Piramal Enterprises Ltd. (India)

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Recent Developments

• In June 2020, Covance entered into a strategic partnership with Medable aimed to increase the adoption of decentralized clinical trial technology.
• In 2020, LabCorp launched extensive preclinical, clinical, and post-approval cellular and gene therapy development solutions along with its subsidiary Covance.