Small Molecule Drug Discovery Market, By Therapeutic Area (Oncology, Central Nervous System, Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Metabolic Disorders, Gastrointestinal, Others), By Process (Target ID/Validation, Hit Generation and Selection, Lead Identification, Lead Optimization), By End User (Pharmaceutical Companies, Biotechnology Companies, Contract Research Organizations (CROs), Academic and Research Institutes, Others), By Geography (North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa)

Published In : Feb 2025

Code : CMI5214

Pages :165

Formats :

Excel and PDF

Industry : Pharmaceutical

Small Molecule Drug Discovery Market Size and Trends

Global small molecule drug discovery market is estimated to be valued at USD 61.04 Bn in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 110.23 Bn by 2032, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.8% from 2025 to 2032.

Small Molecule Drug Discovery Market Key Factors

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Global small molecule drug discovery market growth is driven by increasing investment in research and development by pharmaceutical companies to develop small molecule drugs for treating various therapeutic applications. Growing prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer and rising demand for small molecule drugs with better efficacy can drive the market growth. Development of advanced technologies to expedite the small molecule drug discovery process can offer lucrative opportunities in the near future. However, high costs associated with drug development and strict regulatory framework can hamper the market growth over the forecast period.

Market Driver - Growing pharmaceutical R&D expenditure

Global pharmaceutical industry has witnessed rising research and development expenditure over the past few years. Major pharmaceutical companies are investing heavily in drug discovery and development, in order to build robust pipelines of new molecular entities. There has been intense competition among leading pharma players to be the first to launch new drugs in high potential therapy areas. This boosts huge capital investment for setting up state-of-the-art R&D facilities, conducting clinical trials, and acquiring promising drug candidates from smaller biotech companies through mergers and acquisitions. Small molecule drugs still account for the majority of new drug approvals by regulatory agencies despite the rising popularity of biologics. Developing a new small molecule drug requires extensive experimentation, screening of chemical compounds, and optimization processes that are highly capital-intensive in nature. The continual need to replace blockbuster drugs that are going off-patent coupled with rising costs of drug development have forced pharma companies to focus on areas with higher commercial potential. This is evidenced by the growing dominance of specialty drug segments like oncology, neurology, and immunology in terms of R&D spending and pipeline candidates of major players. Developing drugs for complex therapeutic areas also necessitates newer paradigms like target identification, assay development, screening, molecular modeling, and analytics which are enabled by advancements in technologies. Small molecule approaches also play an important role in these segments due to advantages over biologics in terms of cost of goods, stability, and delivery mechanisms.