The ingredient responsible for pharmacological activity in a pharmaceutical product is referred to as active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). It plays a key role in diagnosis, cure, treatment, and prevention of disease. It is accountable for the modification and restoration of human physiological functions. Therefore, the reaction and results of drugs differ due to the API and administered dosage. However, there are some benchmarks and calculation standards that are required to regulate the relative strength of APIs. These standardization methods of APIs within a drug vary pertaining to brand.

 

The oncology market segment  was expected to command the largest share of the global active pharmaceutical ingredients market in 2016. Factors leading to the large share of this segment include rising global incidences and prevalence of cancer, increasing focus of pharmaceutical companies towards novel product development for cancer treatment, and rising investments in the research activities for the new targeted therapies which use anti-body drug conjugates for the cancer treatment.

 

In 2016, the branded drugs market segment was anticipated to command largest share of the APIs market. Factors contributing the larger share of this market segment includesrising demand for these drugs due to high prevalence of diseases such as oncology, cardiovascular disorders, and respiratory diseases.The synthetic APIs segment garnered largest share in 2016 owig to the emergence of novel molecules, rising number of new product approvals as well as technological innovations in the mode of synthesis.

 

By geography, the global API market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. North America is the market leader in the global active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) market, with the U.S. commanding the major market share. This can be credited to rising incidences of chronic diseases, government focus on the increasing generic drugs adoption, high demand for biologics and specialty drugs, and technological advancements in API manufacturing in this region.

 

The API market has been experiencing considerable growth in the recent years. Factors such as rising prevalence of age-related and lifestyle diseases and oncology diseases, technological innovations pertaining to API manufacturing, rising public awareness towards better healthcare facilities, government programs related to better accessibility for healthcare and increased demand for biologics is supporting the growth of API market. However, rigid regulatory guidelines and economic recession across the globe are impeding the market growth. Also, the rising healthcare budgets and scientific research projects is generating growth opportunities in the market.