Pharmaceutical Excipient SNAC Market Report: Trends, Forecast and Competitive Analysis to 2031

The global pharmaceutical excipient SNAC market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 7.3% from 2025 to 2031. The major drivers for this market are the rising demand for oral peptide drugs, the increasing adoption of drug delivery technologies, and the growing pharmaceutical R&D investments.

The future of the global pharmaceutical excipient SNAC market looks promising with opportunities in the pharmaceutical and scientific research markets.

• The publisher forecasts that, within the type category, purity 99% will remain the largest segment over the forecast period.
• Within the application category, pharmaceutical will remain a larger segment.
• In terms of region, North America is expected to witness the highest growth over the forecast period.

Gain valuable insights for your business decisions with our comprehensive 150+ page report. Sample figures with some insights are shown below.

Emerging Trends in the Pharmaceutical Excipient SNAC Market

The SNAC pharmaceutical excipient market is being influenced by some important trends that mirror the changing landscape of drug development, especially for complex molecules. These trends underscore the growing significance of such specialized excipients in bypassing bioavailability hurdles and enabling new horizons in oral drug delivery.

• Increasing Interest in Oral Peptide Delivery: Success with oral semaglutide has greatly promoted interest in SNAC for oral delivery of other peptides and proteins. The reason for this is patient preference for an oral route over an injectable route, which has created a huge demand for excipients that can help the absorption of these large molecules.
• Expansion into Macromolecules and Biologics: Apart from peptides, there's also a new trend of finding the potential of SNAC in improving oral absorption of other biologics and macromolecules. This suggests a wider scope of application, to transform more injectable medications into more convenient oral types, transforming chronic disease management.
• Development of SNAC Co-Processed Excipients: In order to enhance drug formulation and facilitate better absorption, a trend is emerging of creating co-processed excipients that blend SNAC with additional permeation enhancers or functional excipients. This cooperative move is meant to provide better bioavailability and stability within one excipient combination.
• Interest in Improved Permeation Mechanisms: More is being known about the permeation improvement mechanisms of SNAC (e.g., transient elevation in gastric pH, membrane fluidization). This is propelling next-generation SNAC derivatives or combinations with other permeation enhancers, resulting in more effective and targeted absorption products.
• Diligent Quality and Regulatory Compliance: As SNAC becomes increasingly vital for approved pharmaceuticals, there's a greater focus on its purity, quality, and regulatory compliance (e.g., cGMP, impurity profiling). This trend requires stringent manufacturing processes and exhaustive documentation to adhere to world pharmaceutical standards and ensure drug safety.

Taken together, all these trends are reforming the pharmaceutical excipient SNAC market into a growth segment of particular importance in maximizing the potential for oral macromolecular drugs. The emphasis on oral peptide delivery, expanded use of biologics, and strict quality assurance is making SNAC a center technology in new drug formulation.

Recent Developments in the Pharmaceutical Excipient SNAC Market

The market for pharmaceutical excipient SNAC is experiencing ongoing developments, spurred by its singular function of enhancing the oral bioavailability of difficult drug molecules. Recent major developments indicate a worldwide focus on innovative drug delivery and greater patient convenience, especially for biopharmaceuticals.

• Higher Usage in Oral GLP-1 Agonists: The effective launch and uptake of oral semaglutide, using SNAC, has meaningfully confirmed and boosted its demand. This milestone underscores SNAC's key position to facilitate the oral route of administration of a significant therapeutic class in diabetes and obesity, propelling market growth.
• Investigations into Wider Peptide and Protein Delivery: There is active investment by pharmaceutical firms to investigate SNAC's potential in the oral absorption of a broader variety of peptides and proteins. This move represents a strategic initiative to widen SNAC's utility outside the domain of GLP-1s, maybe even opening up novel oral formulations for other therapeutic categories.
• Improved Manufacturing Processes: Excipient producers are investing in improving the synthesis and purification processes for SNAC to achieve high purity and consistent quality. This innovation meets the strict regulatory demands for pharmaceutical excipients and enables large-scale production required for commercial drug products.
• Gastrointestinal Interaction Understanding: More recent research is giving clearer information on the interaction of SNAC with the gastrointestinal environment, such as pH and luminal fluid composition. This facilitates formulators to develop stronger and better oral drug products by counteracting possible interactions that may lessen the efficacy of SNAC.
• Partnerships for Drug Development: More partnerships are being formed between SNAC producers and pharmaceutical firms to enable the development of new oral drug products based on SNAC technology. Such partnerships simplify the process of formulation and accelerate the commercialization of novel oral treatments for patients.

These innovations are having a significant influence on the pharmaceutical excipient SNAC market by reinforcing its role as an indispensable facilitator of oral macromolecular drug delivery. Emphasis on validated use, increased research, and enhanced production is consolidating SNAC's role as an important technology in the development of pharmaceutical formulation.

Strategic Growth Opportunities in the Pharmaceutical Excipient SNAC Market

The drug excipient SNAC market offers a number of strategic growth opportunities through targeting individual classes of drugs and therapeutic areas where its permeation enhancement benefits can overcome considerable delivery hurdles. Customizing development and marketing for these applications can open up new sources of revenue and meet significant unmet medical needs.

• Oral Diabetes and Obesity Therapeutics: The success of oral GLP-1 receptor agonists such as semaglutide with the use of SNAC places this as a key growth area. Future possibilities reside in new oral versions of other GLP-1s, amylin analogs, or dual agonists for diabetes and obesity, based on SNAC's established efficacy in this category.
• Oral Delivery of Other Peptides: Beyond GLP-1s, there is immense potential for SNAC in facilitating oral delivery of other therapeutic peptides, including calcitonin, heparin, and growth hormone. This overcomes the important patient burden of injectable treatments, new oral market opportunities for these important drugs.
• Oral Biologics and Antibodies: Although difficult, the strategic long-term opportunity is to develop SNAC's position in enhancing the oral bioavailability of larger biologics and antibody fragments. This would transform biopharmaceutical delivery, providing the highest level of convenience for the treatment of chronic conditions with long-term therapy.
• Immunomodulatory Peptides for Autoimmune Disorders: A number of immunomodulatory peptides administered in autoimmune diseases need to be injected. SNAC provides a method for oral administration of such drugs, improving patient compliance and quality of life for long-term autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease.
• Nutritional Peptides and Bioactive Proteins: The functional food and nutraceutical industries are increasingly looking to deliver oral bioactive peptides. SNAC may have uses in promoting the absorption of health-enhancing proteins or nutritional peptides, probiotics, in dietary supplements beyond the classical pharmaceuticals.

These strategic expansion prospects are influencing the pharmaceutical excipient SNAC market by expanding the frontier of oral drug delivery. By addressing key therapeutic spaces and challenging drug classes, SNAC is expected to be a go-to tool in creating more patient-friendly and potent treatments.

Pharmaceutical Excipient SNAC Market Driver and Challenges

The pharmaceutical excipient SNAC market is shaped by a complex interplay of forces. These include the demand for non-injectable drug forms, advancements in macromolecular drug development, and the inherent challenges in oral bioavailability. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for market participants navigating its complexities.

The factors responsible for driving the pharmaceutical excipient snac market include:

• Demand for Oral Macromolecular Drugs: The high patient preference for oral drugs rather than injections, especially for chronic disease conditions, is a major cause. SNAC's special feature to enable oral absorption of peptides and other big molecules specifically caters to this enormous unmet need, leading to its usage in new formulations.
• Growth in Biopharmaceutical Industry: The fast-growing biopharmaceutical industry, with its pipeline of peptide and protein-based pharmaceuticals, drives the demand for excipients such as SNAC. With increasing numbers of biologics on the horizon, the demand for oral delivery solutions becomes imperative, making SNAC a key enabler for market access.
• Demonstrated Effectiveness in Commercial Products: The commercial success of oral semaglutide, which is dependent upon SNAC for its oral bioavailability, is a strong inducement and confirmation of the SNAC market. The success in the real world inspires other pharma companies to investigate SNAC in their own oral macromolecule projects.
• Advancements in Drug Delivery Technologies: Ongoing innovation in drug delivery systems, especially those aimed at overcoming the hurdle of oral absorption for large molecules, enhances the SNAC market. SNAC is an instrumental part in this innovation, allowing a transition away from conventional parenteral approaches.
• Increased Research into Permeation Enhancers: More research and scholarship in academia and industry into different permeation enhancers and their mechanisms of action increase SNAC's knowledge and improvement. Such scientific exploration reaffirms SNAC's existence and reveals new avenues for its use.

Challenges in the pharmaceutical excipient snac market are:

• Limited Generalizability to All Macromolecules: Although effective in some peptides, SNAC might not be generally translatable to all macromolecules, particularly large proteins or antibodies, owing to their size and complexity. This intrinsic limitation limits its market scope in the overall biopharmaceutical realm.
• Dose-Dependent Absorption and Variability: Enhanced oral absorption due to SNAC is occasionally dose-dependent or subject to inter-patient variability, affecting predictability. Control of this variability under clinical conditions and the consistency of therapeutic effects are a challenge for formulation and clinical development.
• Regulatory Examination of Innovative Excipients: Being a functional excipient with a direct effect on drug absorption, SNAC is subject to strict regulatory examination. Proving its safety, quality consistency, and non-toxicity profile, particularly at high doses or for chronic use, can be a time-consuming and expensive barrier to its extensive application.

The market for pharmaceutical excipient SNAC is strongly propelled by the unmistakable need for macromolecule oral forms and the rapid growth of the biopharmaceutical sector. Nevertheless, its intrinsic shortcomings in broad applicability, its possible variability in absorption, and the stringent regulatory requirements require focused research, meticulous formulation, and comprehensive quality control for long-term expansion and broader acceptance.

List of Pharmaceutical Excipient SNAC Companies

Companies in the market compete on the basis of product quality offered. Major players in this market focus on expanding their manufacturing facilities, R&D investments, infrastructural development, and leverage integration opportunities across the value chain. With these strategies pharmaceutical excipient SNAC companies cater increasing demand, ensure competitive effectiveness, develop innovative products & technologies, reduce production costs, and expand their customer base.

Some of the pharmaceutical excipient SNAC companies profiled in this report include:

• Novo Nordisk
• Apothecon Pharmaceuticals
• Actylis Lab
• Hainan Poly Pharm
• Suzhou Tianma Pharmaceutical Group Tianji Biopharmaceutical
• Apeloa Pharmaceutical
• Kingchem

Pharmaceutical Excipient SNAC Market by Segment

The study includes a forecast for the global pharmaceutical excipient SNAC market by type, application, and region.

Type [Value from 2019 to 2031]:

• Purity 99%
• Others

Application [Value from 2019 to 2031]:

• Pharmaceuticals
• Scientific Research
• Others

Region [Value from 2019 to 2031]:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia Pacific
• The Rest of the World

Country Wise Outlook for the Pharmaceutical Excipient SNAC Market

The pharmaceutical excipient SNAC market is increasingly being propelled by its novel capability for improving oral bioavailability of macromolecular drugs, specifically peptides. Its success at facilitating oral delivery for drugs such as semaglutide has fueled increased research and development into new uses and improved formulations, revamping drug delivery paradigms.

• United States: In the US market for SNAC, its use in approved oral peptide drugs, like oral semaglutide, is the major driver. Innovation is focused on leveraging the potential of SNAC in novel drug applications, especially for biopharmaceuticals where oral administration is still a key challenge, and meeting very stringent FDA regulations.
• China: China's pharma sector is increasingly investigating the use of advanced excipients such as SNAC to maximize the effectiveness of its expanding pipeline of biopharmaceuticals. Recent activity has included expanded domestic research into permeation enhancers and expanding interest in obtaining or creating similar technology to enhance oral drug delivery for a huge patient population.
• Germany: With its high focus on pharmaceutical innovation and quality, Germany is a prime market for technical excipients. Current trends in the SNAC market include careful assessment of its function in new formulations and emphasis on the production of high-purity SNAC to meet stringent European pharmaceutical requirements for safety and efficacy.
• India: India's pharmaceutical industry is interested in creating cost-efficient and effective drug delivery systems, which has ignited interest in excipients such as SNAC. Recent trends involve more R&D activities in the oral delivery of peptides, with local companies investigating the synthesis and use of SNAC for enhancing the bioavailability of drugs.
• Japan: Japan's drug market appreciates innovative drug delivery products and patient comfort. Recent advancements in the SNAC market involve its strategic application in oral formulations of peptides and other macromolecules, with Japanese pharmaceutical firms aggressively exploring and embracing advanced excipient technologies to enhance patient compliance.

Features of the Global Pharmaceutical Excipient SNAC Market

• Market Size Estimates: Pharmaceutical excipient SNAC market size estimation in terms of value ($B).
• Trend and Forecast Analysis: Market trends (2019 to 2024) and forecast (2025 to 2031) by various segments and regions.
• Segmentation Analysis: Pharmaceutical excipient SNAC market size by type, application, and region in terms of value ($B).
• Regional Analysis: Pharmaceutical excipient SNAC market breakdown by North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World.
• Growth Opportunities: Analysis of growth opportunities in different type, application, and regions for the pharmaceutical excipient SNAC market.
• Strategic Analysis: This includes M&A, new product development, and competitive landscape of the pharmaceutical excipient SNAC market.
• Analysis of competitive intensity of the industry based on Porter’s Five Forces model.

This report answers the following 11 key questions:

Q.1. What are some of the most promising, high-growth opportunities for the pharmaceutical excipient SNAC market by type (purity 99% and others), application (pharmaceuticals, scientific research, and others), and region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World)?
Q.2. Which segments will grow at a faster pace and why?
Q.3. Which region will grow at a faster pace and why?
Q.4. What are the key factors affecting market dynamics? What are the key challenges and business risks in this market?
Q.5. What are the business risks and competitive threats in this market?
Q.6. What are the emerging trends in this market and the reasons behind them?
Q.7. What are some of the changing demands of customers in the market?
Q.8. What are the new developments in the market? Which companies are leading these developments?
Q.9. Who are the major players in this market? What strategic initiatives are key players pursuing for business growth?
Q.10. What are some of the competing products in this market and how big of a threat do they pose for loss of market share by material or product substitution?
Q.11. What M&A activity has occurred in the last 5 years and what has its impact been on the industry?