Cell Culture Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The global cell culture market is expected to witness a CAGR of around 11.0% over the forecast period ( 2022-2027).

In the context of COVID-19, government organizations in various countries, research institutes, and many biotechs and pharmaceutical firms are focusing on effective and rapid technologies for the fast diagnosis of COVID-19 and developing vaccines/new therapeutics to overcome the current situation. Cell culture may serve as a potential platform for the development of novel vaccines for the treatment of COVID-19. Researchers working on related coronaviruses SARS and MERS are focusing on cell culture-based treatment approaches for the COVID-19 treatment and conducting research in developing vaccines based on cell cultures.

In February 2020, Belgium Based CDMO Univercells received up to EUR 50 million financings from Gamma Biosciences, a new investment platform supported by a leading global investment firm, KKR, focused on next-generation bioprocessing technologies for the production of advanced biologic therapies, including gene- and cell-based therapies.

In general, the market for cell culture is driven by factors, such as rising demand for vaccines, artificial organs and biopharmaceuticals, and a growing focus on personalized medicine. For instance, in April 2019, Seqirus filed an Annual Strain Update with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the coming weeks, including the decision to manufacture its cell-based influenza vaccine (FLUCELVAX QUADRIVALENT) for the 2019/2020 season using a cell-based candidate vaccine virus (CVV) for all four influenza strains recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). This decision makes the entire production process exclusively cell-based.

Additionally, there is a growing demand for personalized medicine across major developed economies. Technological advancements have helped researchers to come up with novel therapies that can help treat life-threatening diseases. For vaccines and personalized medicine, there is the mandatory use of cell culture. Hence, the market for cell culture is positively impacted due to the factors mentioned above.

Key Market Trends

Drug Development Segment to Witness Rapid Growth over the Forecast Period.

With the COVID-19 outbreak situation, the drug development process is at its peak, across the biotechnology industry. Several companies and research organizations are involved in developing coronavirus drugs/vaccines. For instance, Entos Pharmaceuticals, Roivant Sciences, Altimmune, Biopharma, etc., are involved in the drug development for treating the contagious coronavirus infection, which is expected to propel the segment growth.

Cell culture is an integral part of medical research and drug discovery. The two-dimensional (2D) culture has been the preferred method for many decades due to the ease with which cell monolayers can be induced to proliferate on planar surfaces. The cell culture industry has witnessed the evolution, and currently, there has been an emergence of 3D cell culture in the market. Drug development is a time-consuming and costly procedure that is finished in multiple stages, from target identification to lead discovery and optimization, preclinical validation, and clinical trials culminating in approval for clinical use. Cell-based high throughput screening (HTS) is currently being carried out on cultured cells propagated in two dimensions (2D) on plastic surfaces optimized for tissue culture. With the emergence of 3D cell culture, the process of HTS has become easier and accurate.

Furthermore, various global regulatory groups have improved their support for gene and cell therapy, which is positive. There was a notion of a "arms race" between different regional bodies-the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom, China, and Japan-to a degree, and in various ways within different specialties. Recently, it appears that regulatory authorities have been more open and collaborative in recognising the differences between cell and gene therapy and more established biopharma cancer treatments. They are willing to put in place the necessary regulatory mechanism to allow these drugs to reach the market and to monitor them in the future. Hence, the favorable government support is also projected to boost the market growth.

North America Dominates the Global Cell Culture Market Over the Forecast Period

With the COVID-19 pandemic still evolving with the new saints, researchers are working toward studying the mechanisms underlying COVID-19. For instance, on January 20, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received a specimen collected from the first reported patient in the United States and generated enough SARS-CoV-2 grown in cell culture to distribute to medical and scientific researchers. Also, according to the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the progress in the field of gene and cell therapy continues with rapid development despite the negative impact of COVID-19 on research into novel treatments.

North America is currently dominating the cell culture market and is expected to follow the same trend over the forecast period. This is majorly attributed to the growing demand for personalized medicine and the presence of key players in the market. Additionally, the United States government is supportive in terms of medical research as healthcare is one of the major priorities in the country. The Human Cancer Models Initiative was announced in 2016, which aimed to grow 1,000 new cell lines for scientists to study within three years. The initiative included the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Maryland, Cancer Research UK, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute UK, and Hubrecht Organoid Technology of Utrecht in the Netherlands.

Fetal bovine serum (FBS) is the most widely used growth supplement for cell culture because it cost-effectively supports the survival and growth of many cell lines. However, the FDA has put several requirements in place for the production process due to the risk of contamination. Furthermore, in 2019, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released their first official policy document on the joint regulation of cell-cultured meat. ​With the rising focus on cell-based research, it is believed that there may be more technological advancements in the field, and this is likely to impact the US market in a positive manner.

Competitive Landscape

The cell culture market is moderately competitive and consists of several major players. In terms of market share, few of the major players currently dominate the market. The presence of major market players, such as Thermo Fisher Scientific, Danaher Corporation, Sartorius AG, etc., is increasing the overall competitive rivalry of the market. In October 2019, Thermo Fisher Scientific launched cell culture media, which is the first to remain stable when stored at room temperature​. The product advancements and improvements in cell culture platforms by the major players are increasing the competition.

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