In-Silico Drug Discovery Market Report: By Product (Software, Software-as-a-Service, Consultancy-as-a-Service), Workflow (Discovery, Pre-Clinical Tests, Clinical Tests), Technology (Artificial Intelligence), End User (Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Companies, Contract Research Organizations, Academic and Research Institutes) – Global Industry Outlook and Demand Forecast to 2030

Market Overview

The global in-silico drug discovery market was valued at $2,331.8 million in 2021, and the market size is predicted to reach $5,682.3 million by 2030, advancing at a CAGR of 10.4% during 2021–2030. The market is driven by the increasing focus on reducing medication errors, technological advancements in computational biology, and growing use of cloud-based applications in drug discovery.

In the domain of biomedicine, from preclinical discoveries to late-stage clinical development, in-silico drug design can be useful at all stages of drug development. Such methods aid in the selection of only the most-potent lead molecule, thereby potentially preventing late-stage clinical failures and resulting in cost savings. In-silico design is being employed to hasten and ease hit identification and hit-to-lead selection, improve absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity profiles, and prevent safety concerns.

Due to the uncontrollable spread of the coronavirus, extensive research was conducted on different types of molecules to understand the morphology of the virus, in order to find a cure. Various attempts were made at computational drug design by targeting the main protease of SARS-CoV2. High-throughput virtual screening of millions of molecules and natural compound databases were performed, followed by docking. Thus, due to the incessant efforts for the discovery of specific drugs for COVID–19, there was a positive impact on the in-silico drug discovery market.

Growing Use of Cloud-Based Applications in Drug Discovery Methods

The in-silico drug discovery industry is driven by the growing use of cloud-based applications. Cloud computing provides access to virtually unlimited computational resources, allowing pharmaceutical researchers to scale up or down their computing environment, as needed. Companies can more easily modify solutions to their specific demands. For instance, BT's Cloud Compute life sciences platform can supply particular pharmaceutical applications across the value chain, from discovery to commercial operations, ensuring that the necessary applications work across pipelines, rather than forcing one application on all pipeline teams.

By enabling drug developers to analyze historical data, to perform their respective clinical research activities, these applications improve overall productivity and minimize the chances of clinical failure.

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Artificial Intelligence Is Most-Widely Used Technology

Artificial intelligence held the largest market share, of more than 40%, in 2021. As the data digitization rate is increasing in the healthcare sector, AI is being used to address difficulties such as acquiring, analyzing, and using knowledge to solve complicated clinical problems. AI simulates human intelligence and can distinguish hit-and-lead compounds, thus allowing for faster therapeutic target validation and structural design optimization. Thus, it is being used effectively in different stages of drug discovery, including drug design, chemical synthesis, drug screening, polypharmacology, and drug repurposing.

Software-as-a-Service Adoption Will Grow Fastest

In the in-silico drug discovery market, SaaS is predicted to grow with the highest CAGR, of around 11%, in the forecast period. This will primarily be because these solutions help users in data mining, data analysis, and decision making, by offering decentralization, real-world management of data, and many more functionalities. In addition, these solutions help reduce the overall cost and duration of the drug discovery process. Furthermore, they are being widely adopted for virtual screening and target fishing in the drug discovery procedure.

Technological Advancement in Computational Biology

The global in-silico drug discovery industry is also driven by the rapid technical breakthroughs in the field of computational biology. Computational approaches have been successful in the development of new medicinal molecules. Computational biology advances have further simplified the data processing and analysis phases of sequencing, thus resulting in shorter turnaround times and higher accuracy.

These improvements have prompted a demand for more-integrated storage and computational node utilization approaches across the industry. Such integration is projected to reduce data transfer costs and eliminate the bottlenecks in downstream analysis and computational analytic community communication. Virtual screening is a frequently used computational method for identifying hits in the early phases of the drug development process.

North America Held Largest Share

The North American in-silico drug discovery market held the largest share, of around 45%, in 2021. This is attributed to the strong need for treatments for rare diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and Lou Gehrig's disease. Moreover, the R&D expenditure of biopharmaceutical companies is rising in the U.S. In 2020, U.S. medical and R&D investment reached around $250 billion. The market's expansion can also be linked to a better-developed network between service providers and manufacturers than in any other region. Additionally, the contribution of the U.S. FDA has helped in the development of a flexible regulatory pathway and resolved several queries about the co-development process.

Furthermore, technological advancements, the presence of strong vendors, a growing patient population suffering from a variety of chronic and infectious diseases, and rising government focus on improving healthcare infrastructure are driving the market.

Market Players Are Involving in Partnerships & Collaborations to Gain Competitive Edge

The market is fragmented in nature with the presence of several major players. In recent years, they have pursued partnerships & collaborations in order to stay ahead of their competitors. For instance:

• In March 2022, Insilico Medicine collaborated with the University of Zurich to use Insilico's generative AI technology to find novel cystinosis treatments.
• In January 2022, Insilico Medicine partnered with Fosun Pharma, a China-based healthcare group. In the partnership, Fosun Pharma's clinical development and commercial experience will be combined with Insilico's end-to-end AI-driven drug discovery platforms, to create a new therapeutic portfolio.

Key Players in In-Silico Drug Discovery Market Are:

• Insilico Medicine
• Evotec
• Charles River Laboratories
• WuXi AppTec
• Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
• Simulation Plus
• Selvita
• Schrödinger Inc.
• Aragen Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd.
• Curia Global Inc.

Market Size Breakdown by Segment

The report offers comprehensive market segmentation analysis along with market estimation for the period 2017–2030.

Based on Product

• Software
• Software-as-a-Service
• Consultancy-as-a-Service

Based on Workflow

• Discovery
• Pre-Clinical Tests
• Clinical Tests

Based on Technology

• Artificial Intelligence

Based on End User

• Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Companies
• Contract Research Organizations
• Academic and Research Institutes

Geographical Analysis

• North America
  • U.S.
  • Canada
• Europe
  • Germany
  • France
  • U.K.
  • Italy
  • Spain
• Asia-Pacific (APAC)
  • China
  • India
  • Japan
  • Australia
  • South Korea
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
• Middle East and Africa
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Africa