Pharmaceutical Spray Drying - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts (2026-2031)

The pharmaceutical spray drying market was valued at USD 2.20 billion in 2025 and estimated to grow from USD 2.36 billion in 2026 to reach USD 3.32 billion by 2031, at a CAGR of 7.12% during the forecast period (2026-2031). This momentum positions the pharmaceutical spray drying market size as a core enabler for contemporary drug development strategies that prioritize enhanced solubility, rapid bioavailability, and scalable continuous‐flow production. Growth is fueled by supportive regulation, rising demand for advanced solid dispersions, and a clear pivot by contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) toward integrated particle‐engineering services. Equipment suppliers are embedding real-time analytics and advanced automation, while biopharma innovators leverage the platform to shorten development cycles for small-molecule APIs, vaccines, biologics, and inhalable therapies. Sustainability imperatives, solvent‐reduction mandates, and heightened energy-efficiency objectives further accelerate adoption of closed-loop and fusion-dispersion systems, reinforcing the pharmaceutical spray drying market as a preferred route for next-generation therapeutics.

Global Pharmaceutical Spray Drying Market Trends and Insights

Growing Demand for Enhanced Drug Solubility

Approximately 40 % of pipeline molecules present low aqueous solubility, making spray-dried amorphous solid dispersions indispensable for recovery of therapeutic potential. Clinically, the method reduced griseofulvin dissolution times from 21.5 minutes to 8.5 minutes, tripling bioavailability improvement prospects. Copovidone and hypromellose matrices sustain supersaturation in gastrointestinal fluids, and acetic-acid aided processing elevates solubility of weak bases tenfold while maintaining equivalent in-vivo performance. Together, these advances sustain robust forward demand for the pharmaceutical spray drying market.

Rising Outsourcing of Pharmaceutical Formulation Services

Pharma’s reliance on specialty CDMOs is intensifying. Catalent’s collaboration with Sanofi Active Ingredient Solutions secured access to Niro PSD2/PSD4 dryers, enabling rapid scale without significant capital outlay. Hovione’s ViSync venture pairs cell-and-gene technologies with particle engineering, illustrating CDMOs’ push into modality diversification. As continuous processing skills proliferate, outsourcing mitigates validation risk and accelerates dossier filings, anchoring growth in the pharmaceutical spray drying market.

High Initial Capital Investment and Operating Costs

Pharmaceutical-grade spray dryer installations range from USD 2-10 million inclusive of HEPA filtration, in-line analytics, and Class 100,000 cleanrooms. Annual energy consumption of 2,500-4,000 kWh per ton inflates operating budgets, while maintenance and GMP certification add 20-25 % repeating overhead. Innovations such as BÜCHI’s S-300, with enhanced yield capture, partially offset these burdens. Nonetheless, smaller sponsors often pivot to CDMOs, reducing direct equipment uptake yet sustaining volumes within the pharmaceutical spray drying market.

Other drivers and restraints analyzed in the detailed report include:

• Expansion of Inhalable and Oral Thin-Film Therapies
• Increasing Adoption of Continuous Processing Technologies
• Stringent Validation and Compliance Requirements

Segment Analysis

Excipient production held 42.85 % of 2025 revenue, highlighting spray drying’s ability to engineer flowable, compressible, and directly compressible powders that streamline tablet manufacturing. Spray-dried multifunctional excipients with integrated disintegration and binding properties reduce formulation steps, enhancing manufacturing agility. Bioavailability-enhancement applications are forecast to advance at a 9.05 % CAGR, reflecting industry emphasis on unlocking therapeutically valuable but poorly soluble molecules.

Taste-masking, controlled-release, and encapsulation remain vital niches. Roquette’s acquisition of IFF Pharma Solutions in 2024 underscores the strategic importance of excipient innovation, combining polymer science with spray-drying know-how to address evolving delivery challenges. Collectively, the application landscape signals sustained expansion of the pharmaceutical spray drying market.

Small-molecule APIs provided 47.10 % of 2025 revenue. Companies deploy the technology to transform crystalline actives into amorphous forms, securing rapid dissolution and consistent in-vivo exposure. Vaccines, including mRNA/LNP formats, represent the fastest-growing category with a projected 9.62 % CAGR. Pandemic-era investments validated room-temperature, spray-dried respirable vaccines that facilitate global distribution without cold chain constraints.

Biologics benefit from gentle drying that preserves tertiary structure, with monoclonal antibodies achieving > 90 % powder recovery and stability metrics comparable to lyophilized alternatives. Peptide and gene-therapy use cases are gaining traction, reinforcing the adaptability of the pharmaceutical spray drying market across therapeutic classes.

The Pharmaceutical Spray Drying Market Report is Segmented by Application (Excipient Production, and More), Formulation Type (Small-Molecule APIs, and More), Spray Dryer Type (Rotary Atomizer, and More), Scale (Laboratory/Pilot and Commercial-Scale), and Geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa, South America). The Market Forecasts are Provided in Terms of Value (USD).

Geography Analysis

North America maintained leadership at 39.85 % share in 2025, cemented by substantial CDMO capacity, a pro-innovation FDA stance, and large-scale internal builds from big pharma. Catalent’s USD 40 million Kentucky upgrade and Serán BioScience’s USD 200 million Bend project illustrate sustained capital deployment.

Asia-Pacific will post the fastest 8.18 % CAGR through 2031, driven by aggressive capacity expansion across China, South Korea, and India. SK pharmteco’s USD 260 million South Korean facility exemplifies the region’s semiconductor-like investment mentality. Government incentives for advanced manufacturing and simplified regulatory frameworks accelerate local uptake, injecting tailwinds into the pharmaceutical spray drying market.

Europe remains a stalwart manufacturing cluster, adding continuous systems under Horizon Europe grants. Boehringer Ingelheim’s EUR 120 million Greek expansion integrates spray-dried powder production for novel molecules. Meanwhile, Middle East & Africa and South America are evolving from import-dependent regions into regional formulation hubs, encouraged by WHO tech-transfer initiatives and domestic healthcare policy reforms.

List of companies covered in this report:

• GEA Group
• SPX FLOW Inc.
• Büchi Labortechnik AG
• ProCepT NV
• European SprayDry Technologies
• Shandong Tianli Energy
• Labplant UK
• New AVM Systech
• Advanced Drying Systems
• Lemar Drying Engineering
• Freund-Vector Corp.
• Glatt
• Fluid Air (Spraying Systems)
• Syntegon Technology
• Spray-Tek Inc.
• Coperion
• Carrier Vibrating Equipment
• Powder Systems Ltd.
• Innojet GmbH
• Cyclops Spray Drying

Additional benefits of purchasing this report:

• Access to the market estimate sheet (Excel format)
• 3 months of analyst support