Pharmaceutical Robots Market

Global Pharmaceutical Robots Market Size (2023 to 2028)

The global pharmaceutical robots market is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 10.24% between 2023 to 2028 and is anticipated to be worth USD 318.4 million by 2028 from USD 195.5 million in 2023.

The robots used in pharmaceutical areas in healthcare are known as pharmaceutical robots. These are used due to their various abilities, which help the companies require less workforce. Some of the benefits of using these robots include reducing expenses, providing maximum efficiency, minimal training courses, reducing workload, saving workers from hazardous environments, and, most advantageous, preventing drug contamination, due to which pharmaceutical robots are gaining traction worldwide.

Impact of COVID-19 on the pharmaceutical robots market:

The COVID-19 pandemic had a positive impact on the global pharmaceutical robots market.

It has shown the importance of automation and robotic technology because robots being used in the environment of infectious diseases led to a massive increase in the demand for disinfectant robots, owing to growing concerns for healthcare and safety. Additionally, since robots play a crucial role in reducing the impact of the virus and have helped to overcome the difficulties of human labor during the pandemic, pharmaceutical companies have found them to be an appealing alternative.

MARKET DRIVERS:

Factors such as the growing need for automation of manufacturing units and increased demand in various industries for robots are due to more mobile, autonomous, cheaper, cooperative, and flexible new-generation robots propelling the pharmaceutical robots market.

In addition, to launch collaborative robots, major players are investing in activities like research and development, merger and acquisition for the rapid development of robotics, and the added advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) positively influencing the market.

The growing incidence of nosocomial infections augments the growth of the pharmaceutical robots market.

In recent years, there has been a rise in Hospital-acquired infections or HAIs, due to which millions of patients get infected, and thousands of patients die annually. This significantly growing problem resulted in additional hospital costs and reduced operational efficiency. Most hospitals globally have started investing in robotic technologies to prevent these infections since they cause considerable loss, according to CDC, which records around 75,000 deaths annually.

Moreover, there has been a growing awareness among the people regarding cleanliness and safety, leading to a growing need for disinfection robots to reduce IASS without additional labor costs. Further, since robots increase reliability, safety, the efficiency of work, and cost savings, drug manufacturers are adopting pharmaceutical robots widely due to increasing competition in the pharmaceutical industry.

Additionally, due to their high flexibility and reliability, pharmaceutical robots are being used in drug sorting, drug dispensing, and kit assembly along with specific packaging configurations due to their benefits of better space utilization, high speed, error-free operations, and accuracy. Moreover, other industries like electronics, e-commerce, and automotive have accelerated economic growth globally.

MARKET RESTRAINTS:

A few of the major restraints to the global pharmaceutical market include the absence of a favorable reimbursement scenario, high cost associated with R&D skills, scarcity of training for efficient operation of patient handling equipment, limited infrastructure, lack of skilled personnel, lack of awareness mostly in lagging economies and middle-income countries are expected to hamper the growth of the market. Moreover, other challenges include inadequate infrastructure and slow technology penetration in developing economies, which are further expected to restrain market growth.

REPORT COVERAGE:

This research report on the global pharmaceutical robots market has been segmented and sub-segmented based on the robot type, application, end-user, and region.

Pharmaceutical Robots Market – By Robot Type:

• Traditional Robots
  • Articulated Robots
  • SCARA Robots
  • Delta/Parallel Robots
  • Cartesian Robots
  • Dual-arm Robots
• Collaborative Pharmaceutical Robots

Based on robot type, the traditional robots segment is anticipated to account for the leading share of the pharmaceutical robots market during the forecast period. Generally, they complete tasks three times faster than humans, are used around the clock and have far better precision than humans. Moreover, being a cost-effective tool in manufacturing processes with long-term benefits, there is an increase in return on investment, even though it needs a high initial investment for installation. Moreover, Drug manufacturers are revolutionizing robotic technology with increasing competition in the pharmaceutical industry, which led to the development of robots with a more remarkable ability to deliver quality products at a lower cost. Some traditional robots include SCARA, Cartesian, and other articulated robots.

The collaborative robot segment is expected to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period owing to their lightweight, cheaper, and easier to use and maintain, requiring minimum handling skills. In addition, the higher return on investment, unlimited potential, greater robotic and human efficiency for small and medium manufacturers, greater flexibility in the human environment, and safe management of complex and dangerous tasks is revolutionizing unit manufacturing, due to which Many pharmaceutical companies are replacing traditional robots with collaborative robots, thereby growing the demand for collaborative robots.

Pharmaceutical Robots Market – By Application:

• Picking and Packaging
• Inspection of Pharmaceutical Drugs
• Laboratory Applications

Based on the application, the picking and packaging segment is anticipated to lead the market during the forecast period owing to factors such as the advantage of conservation of floor space, high accuracy, the need for a limited work area, and high efficiency. Moreover, Cobots are also being used for packaging purposes in the pharmaceutical industry owing to the lack of skilled labor and the growing demand for these applications.

The inspection of the pharmaceutical drugs segment is also expected to register a substantial market share over the forecast period for drug discovery, laboratory automation, and diagnostic testing requiring robotic machines to minimize human contamination. Also, the challenging and tedious inspection of every drug brings robots into the frame, which do the work error-free and exceptionally consistently since even the slightest error can be fatal.

Pharmaceutical Robots Market – By End-User:

• Pharmaceutical Companies
• Research Laboratories

The pharmaceutical companies segment is expected to witness the fastest growth over the forecast period since these companies use robot-assisted activities to cover the increased demand for new drugs, which drives the global pharmaceutical market. Moreover, the increasing application of robotics in pharmaceutical manufacturing, including drug inspection, picking and packaging, and in-house laboratory applications, gives the benefits of reproducibility, reduced human error, and repeatability.

The research laboratories segment is also expected to hold a significant market share due to the increasing adoption of pharmaceutical robots in facilitated rapid test analysis for better record keeping, traceability, greater consistency, product integrity, and work efficiency. Also, increased demand in research labs because of an increasing number of initiatives undertaken by key players to promote automation contributes to market growth.

Pharmaceutical Robots Market – By Region:

• North America
  • The U.S.
  • Canada
  • Rest of North America
• Europe
  • UK
  • Germany
  • France
  • Spain
  • Italy
  • Rest of EU
• Asia-Pacific
  • India
  • China
  • Japan
  • Australia
  • South Korea
  • Rest of APAC
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Argentina
  • Chile
  • Rest of Latin America
• Middle East
• Africa

Geographically, the North American pharmaceutical robots market accounted for the leading share of the market in 2022. This growth can be attributed to the growing concern over HAIs, which led to the adoption of advanced disinfection robots. One is Tru-D SmartUVC, a sanitizing robot that takes only 45 minutes to complete a cleaning cycle. With the help of strict government regulation regarding hygiene, North America has a significantly high frequency of pharmaceutical robots, which is further expected to increase shortly due to an increasing number of pharmaceutical companies. In addition, the region is a pioneer in adopting self-contained and advanced technologies for disinfectant solutions,  which successfully creates robots with many human benefits that reduce the risk of contagious germs and improve cleaning efficiency, which helps reduce labor costs.

In Europe, the market is anticipated to be strong during the forecast period due to the primary driver demand for laboratory applications. Furthermore, almost all activities related to R&D require repetitive and a wide range of tasks, which can be done consistently and accurately by involving robots. As a result, many large European companies like Germany, the UK, France, and Italy are also trying to enter this market, further expected to drive market growth.

Asia Pacific region is expected to register the fastest growth rate in the market over the forecast period owing to an increase in the number of initiatives undertaken by the government, Rising demand for drug production, reduced risk of contamination, optimal space utilization, high demand for development of advanced robotic machines which performs tasks with high speed and precision and among pharmaceutical companies,

Many local pharmaceutical companies in countries like Japan and China have the most significant industrial robot markets, leading pharmaceutical companies to large robot manufacturing units. Also, the use of highly advanced robots in major industries like aerospace, agriculture, mining, automotive, and logistics would further fuel the market growth in this region.

The regions of Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa are expected to grow moderately over the forecast period owing to reasons like comparatively low government investments and the use of traditional robots. Still, reasons like growing demand for efficient workflow management in research labs, a large number of robot installations, growing demand for automated devices in healthcare and industrial facilities, and gaining a competitive edge in the global economy are some of the significant factors which are expected to be responsible for the drive of the market in these regions.

KEY MARKET PARTICIPANTS:

Yaskawa Electric Corporation, ABB, Marchesini Group S.p.A., Epson India Pvt Ltd., TRANSCRIPTIC INC., Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Denso Wave Inc., Marchesini Group S.p.A and Universal Robots A/S., FANUC Corporation, Universal Robots A/S, Shibuya Corporation, Stäubli International, and Mitsubishi Corporation are some of the noteworthy players in the pharmaceutical robots market.

RECENT HAPPENINGS IN THIS MARKET:

• In September 2022, Korean researchers developed an innovative new technology of microrobots for minimally invasive targeted precision stem cell therapy, which manufactures biodegradable microrobots for precision-targeted therapies at a speed of 100 per minute. 
• In October 2022, The Medtronic Hugo robot, a surgical robot that collects the green light in Europe, Canada, and Japan for minimally invasive procedures in urology, general surgery, and gynecology. It has four arms mounted on separate wheeled carts for movement into different operating rooms.