The pharma ADMET testing market is expected to grow from US$ 6,783.06 million in 2021 to US$ 13,578.62 million by 2028; it is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 10.5% from 2022 to 2028.

The report highlights trends prevailing in the market and factors driving the market growth. The market growth is attributed to the high rate of late-stage drug failure and the increasing number of products approvals and launches. Additionally, the rise of new and emerging technologies is likely to emerge as a significant trend in the market during the forecast period. However, the high cost of ADME testing studies limits the market growth.

ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicology) testing plays a critical role in drug discovery and development to understand the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of a drug. The testing prevents the chances of drug failure during the drug discovery phase. Thus, ADMET testing facilitates pharmaceutical companies to minimize drug discovery time, testing complications, and drug development cost.

The pre-approval expenditures for a medicine can be as high as US$ 2.56 billion, which further increases to US$ 2.87 billion in the post-approved stage. According to the study titled "Why 90% of Clinical Drug Development Fails and How to Improve It", 2022, 90% of clinical drug development fails despite the successful implementation of many strategies. After entering clinical investigations, 9 out of 10 drug candidates fail during phase I, II, and III clinical trials, and the drug approval process. Drug candidates rejected in preclinical stages are not included in the 90% failure rate of the drugs in clinical stages, as they don't enter the phase I clinical trials. If preclinical drug candidates are included, the failure rate of drug discovery and development rises even higher than 90%. According to analyses of clinical trial data from 2010 to 2017, lacking clinical effectiveness (40-50%), uncontrollable toxicity (30%), poor drug-like qualities (10-15%), no commercial needs, and ineffective strategic planning (10%) are the four major causes of trial failure.

New drug development is both resource and time-intensive, where later clinical stages result in significant costs. The discovery and development of each new medicine that is approved for clinical use is a lengthy, expensive, and challenging process that takes over 10-15 years and costs on average over US$ 1-2 billion. To lower the attrition rate in drug research & development, it is crucial to filter and optimize the absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, and toxicity (ADMET) characteristics of pharmaceuticals at an early stage. It has been widely accepted that drug ADMET properties should be considered as early as possible to reduce failure rates in the clinical phase of drug discovery. In vitro and in vivo drug evaluation techniques have reached maturity in preclinical applications, and in silico technologies are gaining vast acceptance to evaluate the relevant properties of drugs in the preclinical stage. The development of software programs and in silico models is further promoting the implementation of ADMET studies. Thus, the increasing need for ADME testing in drug development boosts the pharma ADMET testing market.

Based on testing type, the pharma ADMET testing market is segmented into in vivo ADMET testing, in vitro ADMET testing, and in silico ADMET testing. In 2021, the in vivo ADMET testing segment holds the largest market share. However, the in vitro ADMET testing segment is expected to register the highest CAGR from 2022 to 2028. Based on technology, the pharma ADMET testing market is segmented into cell culture, high throughput, molecular imaging, and OMICS technology. The cell culture segment held the largest market share in 2021. However, the high throughput segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Based on application, the pharma ADMET testing market is segmented into systemic toxicity, renal toxicity, hepatotoxicity, neurotoxicity, and others. The systemic toxicity segment held the largest market share in 2021. However, the hepatotoxicity segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR during 2022-2028.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Pharma ADMET Testing Market

The COVID-19 pandemic positively impacted the pharma ADMET testing market due to the increased number of researchers across APAC. During the pandemic, the demand for in vitro toxicology studies increased to study several drugs and vaccines. Additionally, the increased number of researches led to high utilization of technology instead of human resource to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus. Thus, the technology segment grew at an exponential level. Moreover, governments of APAC countries organized programs and open challenge events for researchers to come up with innovative drugs for COVID-19. Such events increased the overall research numbers due to the rise in government funding. Thus, the above-mentioned facts indicate the positive impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the pharma ADMET testing market.

Various organic and inorganic strategies are adopted by companies in the pharma ADMET testing market. The organic strategies mainly include product launches and product approvals. Further, inorganic growth strategies witnessed in the market are acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships. These growth strategies allow the market players to expand their businesses and enhance their geographic presence, thereby contributing to the overall market growth. Further, acquisition and partnership strategies help the market players in strengthening their customer base and expanding their product portfolios. A few of the significant developments by key players in the pharma ADMET testing market are listed below.

- In April 2022, Charles River Laboratories announced a collaboration with NCL to drive drug discovery projects toward finding innovative therapeutics. NLC utilizes its extensive biotech and pharmaceutical ecosystem and knowledge to carefully select high-potential, preclinical biotech research. Charles River's comprehensive preclinical development services and strategy resources provide safe, high-quality drug discovery and development, which is supporting the projects of NLC's portfolio companies together to bring life-saving drugs to patients.

- In March 2022, Promega Corporation (Promega) announced a collaboration with FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics, Inc., for advancing novel assay development for drug discovery. Under a multi-year licensing agreement, FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics will offer a wide range of custom differentiated induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSCs) integrated with Promega biosensor and intracellular bioluminescent reporter capabilities for researchers and scientists to use as a part of novel assay development in the drug discovery process.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Australian Research Council (ARC), National Institute of Health (NIH), World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) are a few of the major primary and secondary sources referred to while preparing the report on the pharma ADMET testing market.