Cancer Immunotherapy Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market (2023 - 2030)

Report Overview

The global cancer immunotherapy drug discovery outsourcing market size was estimated at USD 1.2 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.8% from 2023 to 2030. This growth is due to rising awareness regarding cancer immunotherapy among physicians and patients, increasing investment by biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to develop cancer treatment, and the increasing prevalence of cancer globally. In addition, there is increasing interest in immunotherapies by pharmaceutical companies as they reduce the risk of cancer and show a reduction in tumor recurrence post-chemotherapy. Moreover, COVID-19 impacted all clinical trial studies however, cancer clinical research was the least impacted owing to the severity of these studies.

The government announced a stay-at-home order to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic that caused disruption and restricted cancer testing and diagnosis, which led to a steep slowdown in referral and treatment for cancer immunotherapies. However, in the second half of 2020, due to the rising prevalence of cancer among people, drug discovery for its treatment started. According to ClinicalTrials.gov, the number of oncology clinical trials stopped in May 2020. However, from November 2020, the stopped clinical trials also resumed, and the COVID-19 vaccine rollout has not affected the trend.

Among the elements promoting the expansion of clinical research firms is expertise in creating medications in particular therapeutic areas and performing clinical trials in different geographic regions. Outsourced research tasks help maximize the resources and time used in the process. New leads are entering the market for cancer immunotherapy drug discovery outsourcing more quickly due to increased R&D initiatives.

Launching advanced therapeutic options such as oncolytic viral therapies, cancer vaccines, HDAC inhibitors, and monoclonal antibodies are expected to create a future potential market. The market for cancer immunotherapy drug discovery outsourcing is growing due to fewer side effects, increased efficacy, and rising demand for the products. The rising investment in R&D by key players in cancer immunotherapy is one of the strategic initiatives adopted. Furthermore, there is an increasing focus on testing therapeutic options such as checkpoint inhibitors, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), immunomodulators, and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for enhanced efficacy. This, in turn, is hindering the growth of the market.

Service Type Insights

In terms of service type, the target identification segment held the largest revenue share in 2022. Target identification and validation is a crucial step in drug discovery as it helps in identifying molecular structures and validating the therapeutic importance of a particular drug molecule. As immunotherapy is a novel, powerful, and effective way to treat cancer, target identification and validation are also gaining more importance in this drug development process. Moreover, it is capturing the interest of large pharmaceutical companies. They are investing in new drug development processes. Thus, the market for cancer immunotherapy drug discovery outsourcing is expected to experience the launch of a large number of new drugs, which will have a good effect on early drug discovery procedures. Due to this, a large number of target identification of new drugs are identified and validation procedures for them are being performed.

Based on service type, the market is segmented into target identification and validation, lead screening and characterization, and cell-based assays. The lead screening and characterization segment is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period. Lead screening and characterization require a large amount of time for effective functioning. Hence, to reduce this time duration, advanced technology is being used to perform functional assays. The new platform allows for refined lead selection and optimizes screening in less time. Various tools are being introduced, such as ligand identification software for decreasing time and providing accurate results.

Drug Type Insights

In terms of drug type, the monoclonal antibodies segment held the largest revenue of 63.0% share in 2022. Owing to properties such as monoclonal antibodies having high specificity for the detection of cancer cells, they have high efficacy and only target cancer cells without damaging healthy cells and with fewer side effects. Also, a number of technological advancements are going on for MABs development, huge funding by pharmaceutical companies and driving regulatory approvals for this market.

Based on drug type, this segment is divided into monoclonal antibodies, immunomodulators, cancer vaccines and oncolytic viral therapy, and others. The others include T-cell transfer therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors. The cancer vaccine and oncolytic viral therapy segment is anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR of 10.8% during the forecast period. This is due to the rise in R&D investment in this field and showing advanced innovation development in this field. Also, oncolytic viral therapy can be combined with cancer immunotherapies including CAR-T therapy, ICB, cancer vaccines, and bispecific T cell engagers (BiTEs) that produce the desired response and help in preventing cancer.

Cancer Type Insights

Based on cancer type, the lung cancer segment held the largest revenue share of 24.5% in 2022. This can largely be attributed to the rising R&D investments and introduction of new drugs for lung cancer prevention, which have increased in the past two decades. For instance, according to the American Cancer Society, the number of new cases of lung cancer will be 235,760 in 2021, and it is estimated that in 2022, 236,740 cases will be registered. Hence, this makes it the most prevalent cancer disease.

The prostate cancer segment is anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR of 10.6% during the forecast period. This growth can be attributed to the growing prevalence of prostate cancer among males, which can be controlled by immunotherapy that produces an effective response against tumor cells and controls the growth of tumor cells. Various immunomodulators are developed such as Dostarlimab (Jemperli) and Pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) to prevent prostate cancer.

Regional Insights

North America dominated the market with the largest revenue share of 36.2% in 2022. This market is likely to grow due to the presence of a large number of pharmaceutical and biotech companies and key CROs in the region. Also, the presence of prominent market players in the region and government support for cancer immunotherapy drug discovery outsourcing is further promoting market growth. For instance, the U.S. government has reinitiated Cancer Moonshot due to a large number of investments in cancer therapeutics, diagnostics, and patient-driven care. The main aim of this is to reduce the death rate from cancer in the U.S. over the next 25 years by at least 50%.

Asia Pacific is anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR of 11.3% during the forecast period. This is due to the increasing number of CROs that offer cost-effective drug discovery services, the rise in the use of advanced technology, and the large number of market players complying with Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) and following regulatory guidelines effectively.

Key Companies & Market Share Insights

The players are continuously involved in expanding their facilities, new drug discovery, and engaging in partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions of companies. These are key strategic initiatives that are influencing the industry dynamics. For instance, in July 2021, LabCorp announced the acquisition of OmniSeq®. This acquisition will help in expanding its cancer drug development and discovery portfolio.

In February 2023, Personalis, Inc. and Moderna, Inc. announced a new partnership to use the Personalis NeXT Platform in forthcoming clinical studies testing mRNA-4157/V940, an experimental personalized cancer vaccine developed jointly by Moderna and Merck. The platform will be used to sequence genomic information from a patient's tumor sample to determine the particular genetic alterations most likely to result in a personalized anticancer response. Some prominent players in the global cancer immunotherapy drug discovery outsourcing market include:

• Covance, Inc.

• Explicyte

• Aquila BioMedical

• Horizon Discovery Group PLC

• Crown Bioscience, Inc.

• Promega Corporation

• HD Biosciences Co., Ltd.

• BPS Bioscience, Inc.

• Genscript Biotech Corporation

• DiscoverX Corporation

• Celentyx Ltd.

• ImmunXperts SA

• Personalis, Inc.

• STC Biologics

• Molecular Imaging, Inc.

Cancer Immunotherapy Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market