Market Insight: The Global Landscape of Oral Solid Dosage Manufacturing Market

Oral solid dosage (OSD) is the most preferable drug delivery system as it is efficient, easy to administer, and offers great stability to store for the long term. OSDs that are typically designed in the form of capsules, tablets, and sachets continue to dominate the oral solid dosage manufacturing market as healthcare professionals widely accept them for patients. Even though advanced therapeutic solutions such as liquid biologics and gene therapies have entered the market, the demand for oral solid drugs continues to lead the industry.

The oral solid dosage makers continue to adopt advanced technology, equipment, and automated manufacturing units to meet the supply demand of oral solid dosage in the market. Opportunities such as expanding capabilities for OSDs, a combination approach to design dosage formulation, and enhancement of patient compliances are the key drivers of the oral solid dosage manufacturing market. Driven by the above-listed factors, it is expected that the global oral solid dosage manufacturing market will grow at a CAGR of ~5%, according to Roots Analysis.

Oral Solid Dosage Manufacturing- The Current Market Landscape

Presently, the oral solid dosage manufacturing market is growing at a steady rate. Capsules and tablet manufacturing are the main oral solid dosage manufacturing capabilities that cater to the attention of marketers. They are easy to manufacture, cost-effective solutions, and easy to transport and package because of the physical stability of the formulation.

Some of the key oral solid dosage manufacturing market players, such as Aenova, Alcami, Almac, Cambrex, Hetero Drugs, Lonza, and Rubicon Research, are supporting the industry to produce advanced oral solid dosage formulations, including capsules and tablets manufacturing.

However, within the capsule manufacturing market, several pharmaceutical players hold the capability for the production of soft gel and hard gelatin-based capsules. The soft gel capsules are catering to the attention of market leaders as they are easy to swallow. In addition, oral solid dosage formulations such as gummiesm small tablets and chewable tablets have recently entered the market as they are easy to administer by patients who face difficulty in engulfing regular tablets. Other factors, such as the rising number of infectious diseases, consumer compliance, and advancement in technology, contributed to the growth of the market.

A Paradigm Shift to Continuous Manufacturing Accelerates the Market

The oral solid dosage manufacturing market players are formulating by following traditional batch production processes that are time-consuming, inconvenient, lead to contamination, and may reduce the solubility of the drugs in the body. Considering the loose end, oral solid dosage manufacturing companies have shifted to innovative technologies and flexible manufacturing processes.

To a great extent, oral solid manufacturing market players have turned to continuous processing. The continuous manufacturing process allows constant formulation without interruption, resulting in a shorter time and eliminating the requirement of intermediate storage.

Moreover, continuous manufacturing units allow obsolete scale-up that reduces the development cost and API (active pharmaceutical ingredients) usage. The continuous manufacturing process provides a controlled environment to ensure the quality of the drug remains constant without alteration. However, in a continuous process, there is a requirement for precise dosing of the starting materials, such as APIs and excipients, at a constant mass flow rate.

To overcome the challenge, fluid-bed processing comes into existence as it allows granulation and ingredient drying at the same time in the same process, eliminating the requirement of transferring wet granulated material. The fluid-bed granulation helps to achieve a higher yield and eliminates the requirement of technology transfer. The shift to technologically advanced solutions allows companies to meet the current requirement of the oral solid dosage.

Outsourcing is an Obsolete Necessity to Speed up Production

Oral solid dosage manufacturing has been associated with challenges and breakthroughs that induce toxicity interlinked with APIs, fluctuation in quality, complexity of the drug formulation, and transportation disruption. The manufacturing of premium quality doses to control diseases requires high-tech equipment that is expensive for pharmaceutical companies. In such instances, the contract manufacturing process plays a huge role in supporting the production of oral solid dosage and maintenance of the supply chain. Outsourcing of manufacturing operational units reduces the burden of purchasing cutting-edge tools and enables companies to focus on research and development of new drugs.

For example, Aenova Group, the leading pharmaceutical player, offers contract manufacturing to enable companies to develop drugs using high-end technology solutions and scale up drug demand.

In August 2022, Catalent acquired Metrics Contract services from Mayne Pharma to strength their oral solid dosage manuafcturing as well as packaging capabilities.

3D Printing Technology- The New Era of Designing Drugs

The oral solid dosage manufacturing market is adapting 3D printing technology to design oral tablets. This 3D printing technology offers flexibility to design tablets and drugs by considering factors such as API dosage, solubility, stability, tablet structure, excipients use, and API distribution within oral solid dosage, enabling manufacturers to design personalized drugs. It also helps to develop dosage forms having complex structures and designs to deliver in different forms. Driven by the emerging trend of 3D printers, the 3D printed oral solid dosage has huge potential to expand the market in the future.

Fixed Dose Combination is the Future of Oral Solid Dosage Manufacturing

Many oral solid dosage manufacturing players, such as Aenova, Alcami, Almac, Cambrex, Hetero Drugs, Lonza, and Rubicon Research, are looking forward to expanding their drug portfolio. To achieve the milestone, companies followed a common strategy such as fixed-dose combination, which involves a combination of two or more oral solid dosage molecules within a single formulation—ensuring better stability and fewer side effects.

Some Recent News and Development in the Oral Solid Manufacturing Market

Some of the top news and developments that have taken place in the market are as follows:

▪         In July 2023, Bora Pharmaceuticals signed an agreement with Celltrion Partners for the commercialization and manufacturing of a broad range of oral solid dosage drugs across the Asia-Pacific Region.

▪         In July 2023, Aenova entered into a strategic partnership with Galvita for the enhancement of drug formulation, development, design, and production of oral dosage forms.

Concluding Remarks

The innovative technology such as Artifical Intelligence and machine learning helps to reshape the oral solid dosage manufacturing market to meet the current requirement of unique drug formulation. The AI powered technology such as dual twin technology help in the collection of data within real time which reduces time of clinical trial. With the adoption of automated drug manufacturing equipment, companies are able to address challenges such as reduced APIs, solubility, precise dosing at starting material and overcoming toxicity issues in the future. The above-listed emerging trends highlight the insight of oral solid dosage manufacturing companies, showing a promising future for the market.

About Roots Analysis

Roots Analysis is a global leader in the pharma / biotech market research. Having worked with over 750 clients worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, academia, venture capitalists and strategic investors for more than a decade, we offer a highly analytical / data-driven perspective to a network of over 450,000 senior industry stakeholders looking for credible market insights. All reports provided by us are structured in a way that enables the reader to develop a thorough perspective on the given subject. Apart from writing reports on identified areas, we provide bespoke research / consulting services dedicated to serve our clients in the best possible way.