Global Compound Management Market: Increasing drug discovery activities, growth in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry as well as increasing demand for outsourcing these services are some of the factors driving the market.

The market is projected to reach USD 764.4 million in 2027 from USD 282.2 million in 2020, at a CAGR of 15.3 % during the forecast period. Biopharmaceuticals form the fastest-growing segment of the pharmaceutical industry. The growth of this sector will also support that of the sample management market, as increased biologic production will spur the demand for sample management. The growth of the biopharmaceuticals market is attributed to the increasing demand for biologics, the emergence of biosimilars, and increasing R&D expenditure in biopharmaceutical companies, as well as the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. In addition, a focus on outsourcing functions to CROs and CMOs has allowed most biotech and biopharma companies to focus on core functions.

High capital investments are required to build a compound/sample management facility, including investment in both hardware and software, such as the installation of new automated liquid compound storage systems linked to a robust inventory database. The average cost of a large automated storage system, for example, ranges between USD 1 million and USD 10 million. The high capital requirements for setting up such facilities may put them out of reach for small or medium-size pharmaceutical companies. Research institutes with limited budgets also find it difficult to afford such instruments. As a result, the use of manual storage systems is still preferred among these end-users.

Companies are increasingly undertaking collaborations and leveraging expertise, which is expected to drive the compound management market. Organizations are undertaking and extending existing strategic partnerships with many academic institutions, venture capitalists for funding, and other private or public companies to exploit any patented technology and molecules. Rising partnerships between public or private entities accelerate drug discovery processes, which in turn, increase the global demand.

Emerging markets such as India and China are expected to emerge as key hubs for pharma and biotech manufacturing. This can mainly be attributed to their low labour and raw material costs, rising life science research, government support, and technological integration and advancements. Governments of various Asian countries have been allocating large budgets to encourage research in the life sciences industry.

For instance, in 2014, the Indian government announced investments of up to USD 5 billion each year over the next five years to boost the biotechnology sector in the country. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and government-funded institutions like the National Biotechnology Board (NBTB) are working together to transform India into a global hub for biotechnology research.
Major players in this market include Brooks Automation (US), Hamilton Company (US), TTP Group (US), Labcyte (US), Biosero (US), and Tecan (Switzerland) Evotec (Germany), Wuxi AppTec (China), Icagen (US), TCG Lifescience (India), and Frontier Scientific (US).

The large share of North America is attributed to the presence of the large pharmaceutical and biopharma industry. As a result, several companies in North America are engaged in drug discovery activities, which require the maintenance of substantial chemical libraries. Moreover, to maintain the productivity of such innovative drugs and biologics, most of the leading pharma and biopharma companies have started building compound management facilities or contracting external service providers.