Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Workflow, By Drug (Small Molecules, Large Molecules), By Service (Chemistry Services, Biology Services), By Therapeutics Area, By End Use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2025 - 2

Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market Growth & Trends

The global drug discovery outsourcing market size is expected to reach USD 17.11 billion by 2033 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 9.83% from 2025 to 2033, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought pharmaceutical companies in limelight. Drug discovery is a costly and lengthy process. This has urged pharmaceutical and biotech companies to opt for outsourcing their research activities to academic and private Contract Research Organizations (CROs). Rising partnerships between public or private entities accelerate drug discovery processes, which, in turn, increase the global demand for outsourcing services for drug discovery.

This scenario is expected to sustain post-Covid implications as well. A rise in cases of chronic diseases has urged companies to develop medicines that extend life expectancy. According to the United Nations, people aged 65 years between 2015 and 2020 are expected to live an additional 17 years. Some of the key therapeutic areas where companies are actively involved in outsourcing include oncology, cardiovascular, and anti-infectives. In November 2020, AstraZeneca collaborated with 9 of the foremost oncology medical centers to expedite research in some of the hardest-to-treat cancers. The company will be funding clinical and non-clinical research proposals from members of this network.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the value of drug discovery and development. People across the world are waiting for a vaccine while several companies are proactively involved in developing an effective vaccine to combat COVID-19. Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE received first approval for the vaccine following a worldwide Phase 3 trial of a potential strain to combat the virus. As for clinical trials, many of them are halted, while some are functional by adopting remote monitoring technologies. Thus, the pandemic has brought the pharmaceutical industry to center stage with drug discovery outsourcing becoming a key aspect to develop effective treatments against the virus. This is expected to boost the market revenue for the next 2 years i.e. a short-term boom, after which it shall regain its original growth curve.

Drug Discovery Outsourcing Market Report Highlights

• The global market is expected to witness rising growth over the estimated time, fueled by the increasing complexity of therapeutic targets, rising research and development costs, and a growing pipeline of biotech companies with limited internal resources.
• The drug discovery outsourcing industry utilizes various pricing models for project complexity, risk-sharing arrangements, and client needs.
• In 2024, the lead identification and candidate optimization segment held the largest revenue share in the market based on the workflow segment.
• Based on the drug type segment, the small molecules segment accounted for the largest share in 2024 during the forecast period.
• Based on service segment, the market is segmented into chemistry services and biology services.
• Based on the therapeutics area segment, the respiratory system segment accounted for the largest market share in 2024.
• Based on the end use segment, the pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies segment accounted for the largest market share in 2024.
• In 2024, North America held the largest revenue share of 41.16% globally.