Game-Changing and Efficient Alternative Solutions to Stainless Steel Bioreactors - Single-Use Bioreactors

The Global Single-Use Bioreactor Market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15.82% to reach a market size worth US$8.035 billion by 2027. This market was valued at US$2.874 billion in 2020.

Disposable or single-use bioreactors replaced culture vessels with disposable bags by enabling processors to incorporate disposable technology, like single-use bags, into manufacturing steps that were formerly reserved for stainless equipment only. In recent years, single-use bioreactors have become an indispensable and integral device in modern biopharmaceutical technology. This could be attributed to the instrument's flexibility, cost-ineffectiveness, and reduced operational costs. They are rapidly replacing the single-use bioreactors in a wide range of applications at both academic and commercial laboratories, including cell culture, biofuel manufacturing, development of antibodies or vaccines, and environmental & pharmaceutical studies, among many others. Furthermore, the working principle and handling of these bioreactors are easy without any complexities. The aforementioned attributes and growing applications are fuelling the single-use bioreactor market growth. 

Analysts anticipate that increasing research and developments are expected to drive the Single-use Bioreactor Market onward. Many factors are influencing the deployment of single-use technology in the biopharmaceutical industry, notably in multiproduct facilities. Facilities that manufacture therapeutic compounds for clinical trials, for instance, must be able to produce a diverse mix of products in relatively small quantities. In such a scenario, single-use systems are typically expected to provide greater flexibility. Furthermore, the burgeoning biologics market, increasing demand for biosimilars and a large volume of antibodies, and advancements in technology, namely the launch of large-scale single-use bioreactors, among many others, are expected to be prime growth factors adding impetus to the market growth.

The aforementioned attributes are adding impetus to the growth of the optical network market. Single-use bioreactors have become a bioprocess industry standard, both for clinical and commercial batches. Exploiting this, serval major players are actively launching new products with the advancements in technology. The launch of a new large-scale bioreactor by Thermofisher and ABEC are a few of the best examples of this. Previously in 2019, 7,500 L of Single-use bioreactors, with a working volume of 6000 L. In March 2021, Thermo Fisher joined the fray and launched bioreactors with capacities that exceed the standard limits due to the high demand for large-scale single-use systems. The company introduced the 3,000 L and 5,000 L HyPerforma DynaDrive single-use bioreactors into the market for commercial use after having first displayed them at Biotech Week Boston in September 2019. 

At the same time, growing strategic investments by the company to enhance its infrastructure facilities for a better offering are also supplementing the market growth. For instance, in April 2021, Indian-based biologics contract manufacturing development services provider Kemwell Biopharma upgraded and expanded its existing infrastructure facilities. As part of this strategy, the company revealed its intentions of adding three single-use bioreactors to meet the demands of its clients. According to the plan, the company had installed 100 L (for R & D), 200 L, and 1000 L single-use bioreactors in its cGMP plant to facilitate early clinical trial supplies and preclinical toxicology batch. 

By geography, the global Single-use Bioreactor market is segmented into five regions: the Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, South America, and the Middle East and Africa. North America and Europe are expected to occupy a dominant share in the market due to the region's well-established biological and pharmaceutical research industry. The growing number of research projects, collaborations, and increasing investments in the United States and other countries in the region is one of the growth factors. Furthermore, the presence of major players such as Danaher Corporation and Thermo Fisher Scientific, among many others, and the strategic developments deployed by them are also expected to supplement the market growth. The strategic acquisition and investments deployed by AGC and Catalent are prime examples of this.

In June 2020, AGC, a global leader in glass, chemicals, and high-tech materials, announced the acquisition of a biopharmaceutical commercial manufacturing facility in Boulder, Colorado, USA. The facility, which AstraZeneca previously owned, will provide AGC with increased capacity and a significantly larger production scale. AGC had prepared the plant for full-scale operations to resume in April 2021. Furthermore, in its pursuit to attain 100-billion-yen range sales by 2025, the firm is actively investing in production facilities across the US and Europe. As part of this initiative, it has established mammalian facilities in Japan and expanded its pharmaceutical facilities in its Spain Plant.

Similarly, in April 2022, Catalent, the major player in enabling biopharma, cell, gene, and consumer health partners to optimize the innovation, launch, and supply of better patient therapeutic interventions across various mediums, announced a $350 million worth of investment at its Bloomington, Indiana facility to augment biologics drug product and drug product manufacturing capabilities. The expansion encompasses the installation of additional 2,000-liter single-use bioreactors as well as augmented downstream processing capacity for drug substances, with the flexibility to meet customer needs with batches of up to 4,000 liters using single-use technology.

COVID-19 Insights

The global pandemic had a positive impact on the single-use bioreactor market. Amid the pandemic, many research organizations hastened their research and developmental activities in pursuit of designing and developing efficient vaccines against novel coronavirus. The increased necessity for much more effective and less time-consuming bioreactors for speedy research processes without comprising the quality of the output led to the increased demand for these bio-reactors. Such factors propelled the demand for the said bioreactors in the single-use bioreactor market. For instance, In September 2021, A major supplier of integrated solutions and services for the biopharmaceutical manufacturing segment, ABEC, supplied six 4,000L CSR bioreactors to Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. (SIIPL) in Pune, India, for the manufacture of Novavax' COVID-19 vaccine candidate, NVXCoV2373. The 4,000L CSR single-use bioreactors from the former are the industry's largest by a factor of two, enabling the latter to double productivity per unit of floor space while achieving the lowest possible cost per dose. Similar factors, including the strategic investments in 2020 by major players like AGC, as cited above, have led to the market's exponential growth amid the pandemic.