Antivirulence Therapeutics Market Global Report 2026

The antivirulence therapeutics market size has grown rapidly in recent years. It will grow from $1.45 billion in 2025 to $1.68 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.8%. The growth in the historic period can be attributed to rising global antimicrobial resistance, growing burden of hospital- and community-acquired infections, limitations of conventional antibiotic therapies, increasing funding for infectious disease research, expansion of microbiology and pathogen genomics studies.

The antivirulence therapeutics market size is expected to see rapid growth in the next few years. It will grow to $3.04 billion in 2030 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16%. The growth in the forecast period can be attributed to rising demand for alternative non-antibiotic therapies, increasing adoption of precision infectious disease treatments, expansion of antimicrobial stewardship programs, growth in bacteriophage and biologics-based therapeutics, and advancements in AI-based pathogen and virulence modeling technologies. Major trends in the forecast period include precision medicine approaches for targeted antivirulence drug design, cloud-based genomic and pathogen data integration for infectious disease research, IoT-enabled real-time infection surveillance and outbreak tracking systems, Industry 4.0-enabled automated antimicrobial and antivirulence compound screening platforms, and an increasing shift toward non-bactericidal therapeutic strategies to mitigate antimicrobial resistance.

The growing prevalence of hospital-acquired infections is anticipated to drive the expansion of the antivirulence therapeutics market in the coming years. Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) refer to infections that patients acquire while receiving medical care in a healthcare facility, which were neither present nor incubating at the time of admission. The increasing occurrence of HAIs is attributed to inadequate infection control practices such as poor hand hygiene, improper sterilization of medical equipment, and non-adherence to standard safety protocols, all of which facilitate the transmission of pathogens within healthcare environments. Antivirulence therapeutics mitigate hospital-acquired infections by interfering with bacterial virulence mechanisms such as toxin production, adhesion, and quorum sensing, thereby reducing pathogen pathogenicity and disease severity without directly killing the bacteria and helping limit the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. For instance, in November 2024, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, an Australia-based government agency, in 2022-23, hospital-acquired complications (HACs) occurred in 115,000 public hospitalizations (2%) and 34,200 private hospitalizations (0.8%). The most common complication was healthcare-associated infection (37%), followed by delirium (13%) and cardiac complications (12%). Therefore, the increasing prevalence of hospital-acquired infections is expected to drive the growth of the antivirulence therapeutics market.

The rising antimicrobial resistance is expected to drive the growth of the antivirulence therapeutics market in the coming years. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) refers to the ability of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites to resist the effects of medicines that were previously effective in treating the infections they cause. The increasing antimicrobial resistance is driven by the excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics in humans and livestock, which accelerates the survival and spread of drug-resistant microorganisms. Antivirulence therapeutics help reduce the selective pressure that contributes to antimicrobial resistance by targeting bacterial virulence mechanisms rather than directly killing pathogens, thereby limiting the emergence and spread of resistant strains. For instance, in November 2025, according to the UK Health Security Agency, a UK-based government agency, the burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), measured by population-level incidence of antibiotic-resistant infections in key public health organisms, increased by 9.3% compared with 2023 levels. Therefore, the rising antimicrobial resistance is expected to drive the growth of the antivirulence therapeutics market.

Leading companies operating in the antivirulence therapeutics market are focusing on advancing clinical trials to develop innovative solutions, such as toxin-neutralizing anti-virulence agents to inhibit bacterial pathogenic mechanisms without killing the microbes, thereby reducing disease severity and limiting antimicrobial resistance. Toxin-neutralizing anti-virulence agents are therapeutic compounds that target and inactivate bacterial toxins or virulence factors rather than killing the bacteria, thereby reducing their ability to cause disease while minimizing the risk of antimicrobial resistance. For example, in November 2023, Eagle Pharmaceuticals Inc., a US-based pharmaceutical company, announced the presentation of its ongoing CAL02 Phase 2 clinical trial progress at the ASM/ESCMID Joint Conference on Drug Development to Meet the Challenge of Antimicrobial Resistance. The investigational therapy CAL02 is designed as an anti-virulence treatment that neutralizes bacterial toxins rather than directly killing bacteria, aiming to reduce disease severity and complement existing antibiotic therapies. This development highlights the company’s focus on addressing antimicrobial resistance by advancing novel adjunctive treatment approaches for severe bacterial infections such as community-acquired pneumonia.

Major companies operating in the antivirulence therapeutics market are GSK plc, Shionogi & Co. Ltd., AstraZeneca, Bicycle Therapeutics plc, BiomX Inc., PHAXIAM Therapeutics S.A., Armata Pharmaceuticals Inc., Eligo Bioscience SAS, LimmaTech Biologics AG, Aurobac Therapeutics SAS, Micreos Pharmaceuticals AG, Locus Biosciences, BioVersys GmbH, Phagelux Inc., Intralytix Inc., Clarametyx Biosciences, Precisio Biotix Therapeutics Inc., Microbiotix Inc., Red Queen Therapeutics, Technophage S.A., NanoViricides Inc., Inhalon Biopharma, Centauri Therapeutics.

North America was the dominant region in the antivirulence therepeutics market in 2025. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the rapidly expanding region in the forecast period. The regions covered in antivirulence therapeutics report are Asia-Pacific, South East Asia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa. The countries covered in the antivirulence therapeutics market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Spain.

The antivirulence therapeutics market consists of sales of bacteriophage-based therapies, nucleic acid-based therapies, anti-toxin and immune-modulating biologics, and host-directed therapies. Values in this market are ‘factory gate’ values, that is, the value of goods sold by the manufacturers or creators of the goods, whether to other entities (including downstream manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers) or directly to end customers. The value of goods in this market includes related services sold by the creators of the goods.

The market value is defined as the revenues that enterprises gain from the sale of goods and/or services within the specified market and geography through sales, grants, or donations in terms of the currency (in USD unless otherwise specified).

The revenues for a specified geography are consumption values that are revenues generated by organizations in the specified geography within the market, irrespective of where they are produced. It does not include revenues from resales along the supply chain, either further along the supply chain or as part of other products.

The antivirulence therapeutics market research report is one of a series of new reports that provides antivirulence therapeutics market statistics, including antivirulence therapeutics industry global market size, regional shares, competitors with a antivirulence therapeutics market share, detailed antivirulence therapeutics market segments, market trends and opportunities, and any further data you may need to thrive in the antivirulence therapeutics industry. This antivirulence therapeutics market research report delivers a complete perspective of everything you need, with an in-depth analysis of the current and future scenario of the industry.

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