Global Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market Size and Trends
The global induced pluripotent stem cells market was valued at US$ 1,595.4 Mn in 2023 and is expected to reach US$ 3,707 Mn by 2031, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.1% from 2024 to 2031.
Global Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market Drivers:
- Increasing research funding: Government and private funding for stem cell research has increased substantially in recent years, fueling innovations with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that are expanding their applications and driving more research. Countries like Japan, China, and several nations in Europe have significantly boosted budgets for stem cell science, with a particular emphasis on iPSC technology's potential role in developing personalized regenerative medicines. For example, in 2022, according to a statement provided by the U.K. Stem Cell Foundation indicated government grants for iPSC projects had doubled since 2020. Private donations to stem cell nonprofit organizations have also grown, with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine announced in late 2021 of the private contributions which exceeded US$ 300 Mn that year.
- Growing prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases: Induced pluripotent stem cell technology has emerged as a promising avenue for developing novel treatments targeting the underlying causes of these incurable diseases. iPSCs offer a potential alternative to human embryonic stem cells for achieving personalized cell therapies and developing disease models for drug discovery efforts. According to the article published by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2022, over 55 Mn people globally lived with dementia, with nearly 10 Mn new cases emerging every year. Alzheimer's disease alone is estimated to affect over 30 Mn people worldwide. As the aging population increases across many countries, especially in developed nations, the burden of such neurodegenerative conditions is projected to escalate substantially over the coming decades.
- Surging demand for personalized medicine: Many pharmaceutical companies are investing heavily in iPSC research to develop biomarkers for disease diagnosis and monitoring treatment response. They are using iPSC-derived cells from disease-specific donors to validate drug targets and toxicity. For example, Astellas Pharma, a Japan based multinational pharmaceutical company, established disease modeling and drug discovery platforms by using iPSCs from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and duchenne muscular dystrophy patients. Several clinical trials are ongoing to evaluate the safety and efficacy of iPSC-derived cells for retinal dystrophy, spinal cord injury, heart disease, and cartilage damage. The success of these studies will demonstrate the potential of iPSCs to transform regenerative medicine from a research concept to an established clinical solution.
- Rising numbers of clinical trials: More research institutes and pharmaceutical companies are conducting clinical trials to evaluate the therapeutic potential of iPSCs. For instance, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 300 iPSC clinical trials were registered between 2020-2022 worldwide targeting a variety of conditions like macular degeneration, Parkinson's disease, heart disease and diabetes. Countries with most registered iPSC clinical trials during this period included Japan, USA, China, and U.K. These trials are investigating the efficacy and safety of using iPSC-derived cells for transplantation, drug testing, and disease modeling. Successful trial outcomes could validate their use in the clinic in the near future.
Global Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market Trends:
- Increasing focus on development of xeno-free culture media: Many researchers and industry players are investing resources to engineer xeno-free solutions for stem cell maintenance and differentiation. Several bio-tech startups as well as large corporations like Thermo Fisher Scientific, a biotechnology and laboratory equipment company introduced human extracellular matrix-based culture plates that facilitate the growth of iPSCs in nutrient solutions devoid of animal feeders, serum and other xenogenic materials. For example, in 2022, STEMCELL Technologies, develops cell culture media, cell separation systems, instruments and other reagents for use in life sciences research, launched mTeSR XF, a xeno-free culture medium that is designed for expansion and maintenance of pluripotent stem cells under completely defined and animal product-free conditions.
- Rising adoption of 3D cell culture technology: Rising adoption of 3D cell culture technology is having a significant impact on the global induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) market. 3D cell culture allows for the growth of living cells in all three dimensions, which better mimics the natural cellular environment in the human body as compared to traditional two-dimensional cell cultures. This opens up new possibilities for disease modeling and drug development by using iPSCs. Many researchers and pharmaceutical companies are utilizing 3D cell culture techniques to develop more physiologically relevant in vitro disease and toxicity models by using iPSC-derived cells. This is helping yield results that translate better to in vivo human conditions. For instance, in 2021, according to a study published by the Nature Communications, a 3D lung tissue was developed by using iPSC-derived epithelial and endothelial cells that showed response to respiratory viruses similar to lung tissues. Such accurate disease modeling was not possible earlier by using conventional 2D cell culture methods.
- Growing preference for customer specific iPSC lines: Rising demand is encouraging more players to invest in developing advanced capabilities for generating large numbers of gene-edited and disease-relevant iPSC lines on a customer-specific basis. This is enabling outsourcing of certain research activities to specialized firms, thus reducing time and costs for academic institutes and pharmaceutical developers. According to the article published by the National Institutes of Health, in 2022, funding for stem cell research in the U.S. grew from US$ 476 Mn in 2010 to US$ 1.45 billion in 2021, reflecting increasing support for such approaches in drug discovery and regenerative medicine. Growing preference for patient-specific iPSC lines is expected to significantly influence research trends and market dynamics in the near future.