Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market: Overview
As per Roots Analysis, the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market is estimated to grow from USD 100.3 billion in the current year to USD 155.4 billion by 2035, at a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period, till 2035.
Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market: Growth and Trends
Contract manufacturing involves outsourcing specific development and / or production tasks to an external service provider. This entails the development of products by one firm, using the label or brand of a different firm. The most frequently outsourced tasks by pharmaceutical companies encompass formulation design, dosage form development, clinical / commercial manufacturing, packaging, and logistics.
Interestingly, the contemporary pipeline of drug candidates is becoming increasingly intricate, necessitating specialized facilities, equipment, and operational knowledge. The number of individuals affected by chronic illnesses has also risen considerably, leading to a continuous need for innovative medications. To address this increasing demand, various smaller companies and some large pharmaceutical firms have started outsourcing their production activities to contract service providers. Technological developments and market need for innovative treatments have also persisted in their development.
Notably, CMOs are adapting to new trends by incorporating customized therapies, ongoing manufacturing methods, and techniques for digital health integration. Through adopting innovation, sustainability, and teamwork, pharmaceutical CMOs will greatly impact the healthcare field and witness notable growth in the coming years.
Growth Drivers: Strategic Enablers of Market Expansion
Increasing demand for biologics, monoclonal antibodies, and novel therapies such as ADCs and GLP-1 medications drive outsourcing to expert CMOs with enhanced capabilities. Further, expiring patents of major biologics and pricing challenges for innovator medications necessitates pharmaceutical firms to pursue cost-effective contract manufacturing strategies. In addition, rising rates of chronic illnesses and the demand for new medications boost dependence on CMOs for scalable manufacturing and quicker time-to-market.
Market Challenges: Critical Barriers Impeding Progress
The pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market faces significant hurdles that hinder its growth including stringent regulatory compliance from regulatory bodies like the FDA and EMA, coupled with rising costs of production technologies. These hurdles burden CMOs with high compliance expenses. Further, global trade instability disrupts supply chains for APIs and raw materials, while pricing pressures in the US and Europe intensify cost management issues.
Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market: Key Insights
The report delves into the current state of the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market and identifies potential growth opportunities within industry. Some key findings from the report include:
- The current market landscape features the presence of close to 510 players that claim to offer contract manufacturing services for pharmaceuticals across the world; 50% of these are headquartered in Asia-Pacific.
- Majority (~90%) of the pharmaceutical contract manufacturers offer services for producing finished dose formulations; further, >75% players offer services for fill finish / packaging and labeling.
- M&As allow companies to establish themselves as one-stop shops and build a competitive edge in the steadily evolving market landscape.

- In order to meet the rising demand for small molecules, CMOs have made significant investments in expanding their existing capacities and capabilities; in the recent past, this trend was most pronounced in Europe.
- The global pharmaceutical contract manufacturing capacity is well distributed across different facilities worldwide; notably, large and very large players account for more than 85% of the total capacity.
- In order to reduce high capital investments and operational costs associated with setting up and maintaining an in-house production facility, the demand for pharmaceutical contract manufacturing is anticipated to rise significantly.
- Currently, majority of the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market share is captured by North America; this can be attributed to the advanced healthcare infrastructure, enabling players to conduct extensive research.
- The oral solids sub-segment is estimated to capture majority of the overall market share in the current year, owing to their cost-efficiency, ease of administration and high patient compliance.

- North America is expected to capture a significant market share of the overall pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market; this trend is unlikely to change in the future.
- Pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market in the US is expected to grow at CAGR of 4.3%; this is due to the increasing demand for small molecules, consequently fueling the need for advanced manufacturing capabilities.
- Given the rising demand for small molecules, along with the rise in mergers and acquisitions, and expansion activity, the pharmaceutical CMO market is likely to experience substantial growth in the coming years.
Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market
The market sizing and opportunity analysis has been segmented across the following parameters:
By Type of Product Manufactured
By Type of API
- Originator API
- Generic API
By API Potency
- Low Potent API
- High Potent API
By Type of FDF
- Originator FDF
- Generic FDF
By Dosage Form
- Oral Solids
- Liquids
- Emulsions
- Other Dosage Forms
By Type of Oral Solid
By Type of Packaging Offered
- Bottles
- Blister Packs
- Vials
- Prefilled Syringes
- Cartridges
- Ampoules
- Oral Liquid Bottles
- Others
By Scale of Operation
By End User
- Small
- Mid-sized
- Large and Very Large
By Geographical Regions
- North America
- US
- Canada
- Europe
- Belgium
- Switzerland
- UK
- Germany
- Ireland
- Netherlands
- Italy
- France
- Sweden
- Rest of Europe
Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World
- China
- India
- Japan
- Korea
- Rest of Asia-Pacific and Other Countries
Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market: Key Segments
The Manufacturing of Low Potent APIs Predominates the Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market
At present, low potent APIs account for 85% of the total market share. This is mainly due to their large-scale manufacturing and scalable methods. In addition, these APIs are utilized by pharmaceutical companies for treating different illnesses, including diabetes and infectious diseases. This extensive usage results in persistently elevated demand worldwide. Notably, the segment of highly potent APIs is expected to expand at a quicker rate. The increasing need for targeted treatments and precision medications fuels this expansion, as these therapies prove to be very effective even at minimal doses because of their strong therapeutic benefits.
Oral Solid Dosage Forms Dominate in the Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Sector with Unmatched Demand
The oral solid dosage manufacturing sector represents approximately 55% of the total revenue in the pharma contract manufacturing market. This results from their low cost, convenience for patients, and effectiveness in mass production. In the future, the liquids category is expected to demonstrate greater growth in the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market throughout the forecast .
North America Dominates the Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Domain
North America leads the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market, capturing approximately 45% of total revenue. The presence of a highly developed pharmaceutical sector, robust regulatory systems, and established leading global drug firms is driving the demand for pharmaceutical contract manufacturers in this region.
Primary Research Overview
The opinions and insights presented in the market report were also influenced by discussions held with senior stakeholders in the industry. The market report includes detailed transcripts of interviews conducted with the following individuals:
- President and Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Strategy and Business Development, Mid-sized Company, US
- Former Chief Executive Officer, Large Company, Switzerland
- Former Vice President Business Development, Marketing, and IP, Mid-sized Company, Israel
- Director, Operations, Mid-sized Company, India
- Former Director of Business Development, Large Company, US
- Former Director, Commercial Development, Cell Therapy, Mid-sized Company, Switzerland
- Former Director, Pharmaceuticals Marketing, Large Company, France
- Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence Manager, Large Company, Switzerland
Example Players in Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market
- Albemarle
- Aspen Pharmacare
- Bausch Health Sciences
- Catalent
- Delpharm
- Eurofins Scientific
- Evonik Industries
- Fareva
- Fresenius Kabi
- Intas Pharmaceuticals
- Lonza
- Micro Labs
- Nipro Patch
- Patheon
- PiSA Farmaceutica
- Recipharm
- Sandoz
- West Pharmaceutical Services
- Wockhardt
- WuXi AppTec
Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market: Research Coverage
- Market Sizing and Opportunity Analysis: The report features an in-depth analysis of the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market, focusing on key market segments, including [A] type of product manufactured, [B] type of API, [C] API potency, [D] type of FDF, [E] dosage form, [F] type of oral solid [G] type of packaging offered [H] scale of operation, [I] end user and [J] geographical regions.
- Market Landscape: A detailed overview of the current market landscape of companies engaged in offering contract manufacturing services for small molecules, along with information on several relevant parameters, such as [A] year of establishment, [B] location of manufacturing facility, [C] type of offering, [D] type of pharmaceutical product manufactured, [E] scale of operation, [F] type of service offered, [G] type of finished dosage form manufactured, [H] type of packaging offered.
- Company Profiles: In-depth profiles of prominent players North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific that are engaged in the peptide therapeutics manufacturing market based on [A] year of establishment, [B] location of headquarters, [C] product portfolio, [D] recent developments and [E] an informed future outlook.
- Make versus Buy Framework: A qualitative analysis highlighting various factors that need to be taken into consideration by pharmaceutical drug developers, while deciding whether to manufacture their respective products in-house or engage the services of a CMO.
- Mergers and Acquisitions: A detailed analysis of the various mergers and acquisitions in this domain, based on several relevant parameters, such as [A] year of agreement, [B] type of agreement, [C] geography, [D] most active players (in terms of number of agreements), ownership change matrix and key value drivers of the acquisition agreement.
- Recent Expansions: A detailed analysis of expansions that have taken place in the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing domain, along with analysis on several relevant parameters, such as [A] year of expansion, [B] status of expansion, [C] type of expansion, [D] location of facility, [E] amount invested, [F] type of pharmaceutical product manufactured, [G] type of service offered and [H] most active players.
- Regional Capability Analysis: A detailed regional capability of pharmaceutical contract manufacturing facilities in different regions (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World) across the globe.
- Capacity Analysis: An estimate an estimate of the overall installed capacity for the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, based on information reported by various industry stakeholders in the public domain, highlighting the distribution of the available capacity, based on [A] size of manufacturer (small, mid-sized, and large and very large) and [B] geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World).
- Demand Analysis: An informed estimate of the annual demand for small molecule drugs, across several relevant parameters, such as [A] scale of operation, [B] type of API, [C] potency of API and [D] geographical regions.
- Market Impact Analysis: An in-depth analysis of the factors that can impact the growth of the global pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market. It also features identification and analysis of [A] key drivers, [B] potential restraints, [C] emerging opportunities, and [D] existing challenges.
Key Questions Answered in this Report
- Which are the leading companies in pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market?
- Which region dominates the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market?
- What are the key trends observed in the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market?
- What factors are likely to influence the evolution of this market?
- What are the primary challenges faced by pharmaceutical contract manufacturers?
- What is the current and future market size?
- What is the CAGR of this market?
- How is the current and future market opportunity likely to be distributed across key market segments?
Reasons to Buy this Report
- The report provides a comprehensive market analysis, offering detailed revenue projections of the overall market and its specific sub-segments. This information is valuable to both established market leaders and emerging entrants.
- The report offers stakeholders a comprehensive overview of the market, including key drivers, barriers, opportunities, and challenges. This information empowers stakeholders to stay abreast of market trends and make data-driven decisions to capitalize on growth prospects.
- The report can aid businesses in identifying future opportunities in any sector. It also helps in understanding if those opportunities are worth pursuing.
- The report helps in identifying customer demand by understanding the needs, preferences, and behavior of the target audience in order to tailor products or services effectively.
- The report equips new entrants with requisite information regarding a particular market to help them build successful business strategies.
- The report allows for more effective communication with the audience and in building strong business relations.
Additional Benefits
- Complementary PPT Insights Pack
- Complimentary Excel Data Packs for all Analytical Modules in the Report
- 15% Free Content Customization
- Detailed Report Walkthrough Session with Research Team
- Free Updated report if the report is 6-12 months old or older