Pharmaceutical Membrane Filtration Market

Global Pharmaceutical Membrane Filtration Market Size (2023 to 2028)

The global pharmaceutical membrane filtration market was valued at USD 8.34 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11%, worth USD 14.06 billion by 2028.

Some of the key findings of the report:

• Based on the product, MCE membrane filtration captured the maximum global market share in 2022

• Based on technique, the Microfiltration category is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR compared to other segments

• North American pharmaceutical membrane filtration market registered the highest growth in 2022

• Asia pacific pharmaceutical membrane filtration market is growing at the highest CAGR of 13%

The principle use of membrane filtration is in preparing pharmaceutical solutions, requiring passage through a thin polymeric membrane with many other tiny pores to remove viable and non-viable particles for clarification of the solution. The particles are later retained by sieving, electrostatic attraction, or trapping since the flow rate through the filter is affected by solution viscosity, filter resistance, and pressure. The micro-organisms present during the purification and examination of medicinal preparations and the organisms in air and water need vital membrane filtration for a standard procedure. Membrane filtration is used to filter the drugs during the development of the drug projects. In addition, membrane filters are used for different applications like capsule prefilters. The pharmacist considers liquid volume, pore size, filter media, compatibility, and particle load when selecting a membrane filter through the help of several available tests to assess the filters' integrity.

MARKET DRIVERS:

Growing applications of membrane filters in biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical industries are expected to drive the global pharmaceutical membrane filtration market growth.

Wide-scale adoption of the nanofiltration technology, the steadily growing biopharmaceutical industry, and rapid development in generics production is further expected to drive global pharmaceutical membrane filtration market growth. In addition, the countries' increasing economies are helping the manufacturers, and critical players expand their distribution networks and productivity in manufacturing capabilities that contribute to the growth of the pharmaceutical membrane filtration market. Furthermore, due to Strict regulatory standards for safety and efficacy confirmation of the drug by removing impurities in the whole drug production process through the help of membrane filtration procedures, high-quality prerequisites in the pharmaceutical industry help make membrane filtration procedures an essential method in drug development, the rapid growth of biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical industries, Short- and medium-term predictability, and increasing adoption of single-use technologies are some of the factors helping the market grow.

The availability of advanced nanofiltration techniques and steadily increasing demand for single-use technologies are also expected to accelerate the global pharmaceutical membrane filtration market. In addition, the companies' adoption of effective and safe manufacturing practices contributes to the growth of the global pharmaceutical membrane market. Expansion of Manufacturers to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP ), Growing applications in airborne disease control, rapid development in generic production, and Growing demand for etched membranes for ultrafiltration-like nanofiltration techniques are expected to support the market growth since the commercial viability of etched membranes is primarily dependent on scalable processing techniques, appropriate chemicals, low production costs, and proven effectiveness in real-world separation environments, which results in the creation of carefully controlled commercial ultrafiltration membranes using time taking phase inversion techniques.

The emergence of advanced and innovative filtration techniques and systems is expected to create lucrative growth opportunities for key market players in the global pharmaceutical membrane filtration market during the forecast period. In addition, increasing demand for biopharmaceutical products leads to an influx of investments for the research and development activities anticipated to boost the number of growth opportunities for the stakeholders operating in the pharmaceutical membrane filtration market.

Moreover, there is an increase in applications from emerging economies. Increased acceptance of single-use technology reduces the risk of product cross-contamination, improves quality, reduces operating costs, increases throughput, increases flexibility, and speeds up production. Its mainly used equipment in the food, pharmaceutical, and other regulated industries, the booming pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries are expected to contribute to the growth of the pharmaceutical membrane filtration market over the forecast period. Furthermore, increasing economies of developed and developing nations like China, Brazil, India, and Japan are expanding the pharmaceutical industry in these regions. Therefore, they are supposed to offer more growth opportunities for the key players functioning in the market.

MARKET RESTRAINTS:

Operational costs of membrane filters are very high, resulting in the low adoption rate of these filters, which is a significant challenge for stakeholders and is limiting the growth of the pharmaceutical membrane filtration market. Furthermore, the reluctance of manufacturers to adopt membrane filters due to common maintenance issues and complicated procedures such as membrane fouling is another significant challenge for the key players in the market, along with the growing need for significant capital and Growing competition in the market, which is restraining the growth of the pharmaceutical membrane filtration market.

Impact of COVID-19 on the global pharmaceutical membrane filtration market:

Covid-19 is a contagious disease that spreads quickly from person to person. Covid-19 was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. World health organizations announced covid-19 as an emergency to healthcare and declared specific guidelines. Various Biopharmaceutical firms worldwide are working tirelessly to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. Numerous government and private Equity acquisitions have been made to support the healthcare system. Biopharmaceutical companies use various filtration techniques and materials to help the downstream vaccine production method.

Numerous private Organizations have announced their financial assistance in research instruments and materials to Indonesia's Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology to speed up vaccine production. In addition, the pandemic also provided ways for filtration companies to increase their production facilities. For example, Sartorius revealed plans to open a consumer engagement center in North America to produce biopharmaceutical products in October 2020. This center will also help manufacture and produce COVID-19 vaccines. The effect of the coronavirus epidemic on pharmaceutical membrane filtration supply chains, production, and customer shipments has been manageable until now, with positive organic development. However, the market is expected to grow high in the coming years.

REPORT COVERAGE:

This research report on the global pharmaceutical membrane filtration market has been segmented and sub-segmented into the following categories and calculated market size and forecast for each segment until 2027.

Pharmaceutical Membrane Filtration Market - By Product:

• MCE
• Coated Cellulose Acetate
• Nylon
• PVDF Membrane

Based on the technique, the MCE membrane filters category is estimated to account for the most significant market share in 2022. This is majorly attributed to the high adoption rate of membrane filtration products. Coated Cellulose Acetate or Cellulose Ester Membrane (CEM) is expected to dominate the market under this segment owing to being a general-purpose filter used in many applications like food and beverage, microbiological examination of water, air monitoring, wastewater, and pharmaceuticals. These members offer special flux rates, superior optical clarity for particle visualization, and high recovery rates. Furthermore, compared to standard CEM, it fades completely to provide an optimal background for accurate particle identification.

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane is anticipated to hold a significant market share owing to its high thermal stability, chemical resistance, excellent mechanical strength, good resistance to organic solvents, corrosion, oxidation, and withstanding a pH of 2-10 solutions among the outstanding properties. In addition, it is a natural hydrophobic membrane with fast airflow, excellent hydrophobic ability, and professional sterile filtration ability. Furthermore, it is easy to assemble and conveniently used in medical devices or diagnostic tests.

Pharmaceutical Membrane Filtration Market - By Technique:

• Microfiltration
• Ultra-Filtration
• Nanofiltration

The microfiltration category is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR during the above forecast period. This can be attributed to the high production rates of pharmaceutical products and drugs. In addition, due to the increasing adoption of single-use technologies and their advantages, like high retention rate and reduced energy consumption, Microfiltration is being popularly used, which is widely used to clarify, separate, and purify proteins. This occurs through the feed stream flowing parallel to the membrane in tangential flow microfiltration to prevent plant contaminants from clogging the membrane.

The ultrafiltration segment is also foreseen to witness significant growth over the forecast period due to its various applications in antibody processing, protein purification, and vaccines. As a result, market players are more focused on this technique to meet the precise requirements of healthcare filtration processes. It is generally used to separate solutions containing high and low molecular weight solutes, to control the pH and temperature of pharmaceutical solutions.

Pharmaceutical Membrane Filtration Market – By Application:

• Final Product
• Raw Material

The final product processing segment is prophesied to dominate the pharmaceutical filtration market owing to its widespread use in the treatment of antibodies, active pharmaceutical ingredient processing, protein purification, virus removal, and vaccine processing, due to which the final product processing is growing at a rapid pace in recent years.

Pharmaceutical Membrane Filtration Market – By Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East and Africa

North America accounts for the largest market share, while Asia Pacific has the highest CAGR. Growth in North America is basically due to the increasing instances of airborne diseases, which result in higher production generic drug production, encouraging most of the companies in the world to operate in this region. Also, the rapid development of new drugs with growing regional investments, growing demand for biopharmaceuticals, and increased R&D spending by biopharmaceutical companies fuel the market growth.

Europe is expected to grow at the fastest rate owing to its dominance in the pharmaceutical filtration market, adoption of the latest and innovative technologies, and the strong distribution network in the region.

The Asia-Pacific region is foreseen to show a high growth rate due to factors such as an increase in spending in research and development activities by countries like Singapore, India, and China, the robust healthcare sector in emerging markets presenting tremendous opportunities, and favorable government regulations for the development of biologics and pharmaceuticals.

Due to the region's expanding healthcare needs, the top pharmaceutical membrane filtration firms are eager to grow in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.

KEY MARKET PARTICIPANTS:

Some of the companies operating in the global pharmaceutical membrane filtration market covered in this report are Merck KGaA (Germany), General Healthcare Company (U.K.), Pall Corporation (U.S.), Sartorius Stedim Biotech Group (France), Alfa Laval (Sweden), Graver Technologies, LLC (U.S.), Koch Membrane Systems Inc. (U.S.), GEA Group (Germany) and Novasep (U.S.).

RECENT HAPPENINGS IN THIS MARKET:

• In August 2022, Researchers from the University of Arkansas received a $6 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to create a scalable downstream purification platform and develop purification membranes for future virus particles and large-scale virus-like viruses that would replace standard processes and accelerate the production of viral vectors for vaccines.
• In September 2022, integrating the principles of quality risk management (QRM), the new revision schedule released includes a new section on pharmaceutical quality systems in the manufacture of sterile medicines to discuss the concept of CCS to reduce contamination and encompass recent advances in sterile processing technology like those of as RABS and isolators.