Global health issues, the aging population, pandemics, and an increase in chronic disease along with technological advancements are the main drivers of the development of the pharma sector. The 2025 Pharma Market Report explores how major trends like radiopharmaceuticals, biosynthesis, and nanomedicines are assisting the current developments.
Further, AI and machine learning are accelerating drug discovery, while blockchain is improving supply chain transparency. Gene editing tools, the emergence of biosimilars, digital therapies, and mobile healthcare are a few more modern developments in the pharma sector. Read along the report to find out more about the current global status, employment, emerging startups, and more.
Executive Summary: Pharma Market Outlook 2025
- Industry Growth Overview: The pharma sector grew by 0.65% in the past year. The global medicine market is further set to grow 3-6% through 2025. Currently, there are 131 500+ companies and 6300+ startups working in this sector.
- Manpower and Employment Pattern: Current employment in the pharma sector is 12.2 million. Last year, more 624 900 professionals joined the workforce.
- Global Footprint: Leading country hubs supporting major research and development in the pharma sector are the United States, India, Germany, the United Kingdom, and China. Major cities with the maximum number of pharma companies include Mumbai, New York City, London, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore. India supplies over 80% of antiretroviral drugs used to combat AIDS and fulfills around 50% of global vaccine demands.
- Grants and Patents: More than 42 100 applicants from the pharma companies filed for 367 100+ patents. Additionally, the sector also received support from the government through 25 300+ grants.
- Investment landscape: The pharma companies conducted 73 000+ funding rounds and raised an average of USD 41.8 million per round. More than 18 300 companies received support from these funding rounds.
- Top Investors: Top companies like Grifols, Haier, Boehringer Ingelheim, and more invested more than USD 40 billion in the research and development of the pharma sector.
- Startup Environment: Notable startups like Silico Data (automated pharmaceutical quality assurance), Portrai (spatial transcriptomics), TRXmeds (pharma intelligence platform), Strike Pharma (antibody-based treatment development), BRI Pharma (therapeutic medications and preventative technology for brain illnesses) represent the innovative landscapes of the startup ecosystem in the pharma sector.
Methodology: How we created this Pharma Market Report
This report is based on proprietary data from our AI-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, which tracks 25 million global companies, 20K+ technologies and trends as well as 150M patents, news articles, and market reports. This data includes detailed firmographic insights into approximately 5 million startups, scaleups, and tech companies. Leveraging this exhaustive database, we provide actionable insights for startup scouting, trend discovery, and technology landscaping.
For this report, we focused on the evolution of the pharma sector over the past 5 years, utilizing our platform’s trend intelligence feature. Key data points analyzed include:
- Total Companies working in the sector
- News Coverage and Annual Growth
- Market Maturity and Patents
- Global Search Volume & Growth
- Funding Activity and Top Countries
- Subtrends within the pharma sector
Our data is refreshed regularly, enabling trend comparisons for deeper insights into their relative impact and importance.
Additionally, we reviewed trusted external resources to supplement our findings with broader market data and predictions, ensuring a reliable and comprehensive overview of the pharma market.
What Data is used to create this Pharma Market Report?
Based on data provided by the StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, we observe that the pharma market stands out in the following categories relative to the 20K+ technologies and trends we track.
These categories provide a comprehensive overview of the market’s key metrics and inform the short-term future direction of the market.
- News Coverage & Publications: Last year, the pharmaceutical sector produced more than 59 000 articles, indicating its substantial research output and media presence.
- Funding Rounds: The pharma sector received significant investment from more than 73 000 funding rounds held by the pharma companies.
- Manpower: Currently, 12.2 million people are working in the pharma sector. In the last year, the sector added more than 624 900 new workers.
- Patents: The pharmaceutical domain is driven by research and innovations, as seen by the 367 100+ registered patents. It is one of the most research and development-intensive sectors. On average, only 0.01% to 0.02% of compounds synthesized in laboratories make it to market.
- Grants: The sector receives support from the government regularly as evidenced by more than 25 300 grants.
- Yearly Global Search Growth: The annual growth in global search interest in pharmaceuticals was 4.82% last year, suggesting that the public is becoming more involved and aware of the sector.
Explore the Data-driven Pharma Market Report for 2025
By 2025, artificial intelligence (AI) is set to lead 30% of new drug discoveries. It will assist in cutting costs and accelerating personalized treatments. Additionally, the use of mRNA technology will expand in areas like infectious diseases, influenza, HIV, and non-communicable diseases. This expansion is supported by its success during the pandemic.
Our database records 131 500+ pharma companies and 6300+ startups. The sector grew by 0.65% in the last 12 months. The global pharmaceutical manufacturing market size is further projected to grow from USD 649.76 billion in 2024 to USD 1905.76 billion by 2034, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7%.
Credit: Precedence Research
With more than 367 100 registered patents and 25 300+ grants given out, innovation is a continuous activity in the pharma sector. The domain currently employs more than 12.2 million people. More 624 900+ people joined the workforce last year.
The United States accounts for nearly 40% of the world’s pharmaceutical market, making it the top country to witness major activities around research and development in this sector.
Apart from the United States, major countries with the highest amount of activities regarding pharmaceuticals include India, Germany, the United Kingdom, and China.
Bangalore, Mumbai, New York City, London, and Ahmedabad are the main hubs for pharmaceutical operations and innovations at the city level.
A Snapshot of the Global Pharma Market
The pharmaceutical sector has a 0.65% annual growth rate, indicating consistent progress. With more than 6300 functional startups, the sector has a thriving innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem. There are 5300+ startups in the early stage and 7600+ more in the merger and acquisition stage.
Additionally, 42 100+ applicants applied for 367 100+ patents. The patent activity is rising at an annual rate of 1.78%. The United States is leading patent issuance with 120 600+ patents. China comes second with 49 440+ patents.
Explore the Funding Landscape of the Pharma Market
More than 31 300 investors participate in 73 000+ funding rounds. The average fund raised every round is around USD 41.8 million. These funds assist more than 18 300 companies. This broad allocation of investments benefits both well-established companies and upcoming ones. The funding network also supports the extensive research and development of this sector.
Who is Investing in the Pharma Market?
Top investors invested more than USD 40 billion in the pharma sector.
- Grifols invested USD 5.2 billion in 7 companies. In 2022, it acquired the majority of stakes in Biotest.
- Haier spent USD 5.2 billion on 2 companies. It also acquired a 20% stake in Shanghai RAAS for USD 1.8 billion.
- Boehringer Ingelheim contributed USD 4.2 billion to 18 companies.
- Orbimed distributed USD 4.2 billion among 166 companies.
- Asahi KASEI Corporation spent USD 3.8 billion on 14 companies.
- Novartis distributed 3.8 billion among 57 companies.
- Philip Morris International invested USD 3.7 billion in 4 companies.
- RA Capital Management distributed USD 3.6 billion among 166 companies.
- The European Investment Bank spent USD 3.4 billion on 65 companies. It also invested USD 20.49 million in Galenicum.
- PAI Partners invested USD 3.2 billion in 4 companies.
Top Pharma Innovations & Trends
Discover the emerging trends in the pharma market along with their firmographic details:
- The Radiopharmaceuticals sector employs more than 52 500 people. 4200+ people joined the workforce last year. Currently, there are 540+ companies in the sector and it is further growing at an annual rate of 12.4%. Radiopharmaceuticals are heavily used in targeted alpha therapy (TAT), radio-aligned therapy using beta-emitting radiopharmaceuticals, and bone metastasis treatment.
- The Nanomedicine sector is growing at an annual rate of 2.35%. Currently, there are 340+ companies employing 17 500+ people in this sector. Last year, 970+ new professionals joined the workforce. Nanomedicines are essential for drug delivery, diagnostics and imaging, cancer treatment, regenerative medicine, and more.
- Biosynthesis is a crucial trend in pharmaceuticals as it assists in artemisinin production, paclitaxel precursor synthesis, terpenoid production, nanoparticle synthesis, etc. This sector is growing at an annual rate of 3.21%. Currently, 170+ companies are working on research and development of biosynthesis. These companies employ 8300+ people. Last year, 560+ more people joined the workforce.
5 Top Examples from 6300+ Innovative Pharma Startups
The five innovative startups showcased below are picked based on data including the trend they operate within and their relevance, founding year, funding status, and more. Book a demo to find promising startups, emerging trends, or industry data specific to your company’s needs and objectives.
Silico Data provides Automated Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance
US-based startup Silico Data builds QSight, a tool for automating pharmaceutical quality assurance (QA), generating reviews, and flagging values that need to be rechecked. It integrates the QA data into other systems, creates reports, and produces insights.
Before drug release, the pharmaceutical companies upload hand-written QA documentation on Qsight for review. The tool uses AI/ML to automatically turn the data into actionable insights and integrate it with enterprise resource planning (ERP) for traceability.
Qsight ensures speed, uses optical character recognition (OCR) for high accuracy, and is easy to integrate into any existing pharma process.
Portrai develops Drugs using Spatial Transcriptomics
South Korean startup Portrai builds platforms for developing drugs using spatial biology and AI. Its Portrai Discovery platform analyzes the pathophysiology of diseases and discovers biomarkers.
Similarly, the PortraiTARGET platform identifies targets for novel drugs using big data, and the PortraiDRUG/MIX platform combines drug distribution within tissues with spatial transcriptomics information.
Further, the PortraiMOA platform analyzes the increase and decrease of genes according to drug actions, and the PortraiTME platform discovers biomarkers using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) images. Portrai’s platforms use proprietary transcriptomics and datasets to discover novel, high-impact therapeutic targets and binders that improve patient outcomes significantly.
TRXmeds offers a Pharma Intelligence Platform
Dutch startup TRXmeds develops a platform for end-to-end contracting, supply chain, patient journey insights, and support programs for the pharma sector. The platform also provides insights built with unique data points from patient feedback and general physicians (GP).
The therapy insights generated by the platform assist pharmaceutical businesses in growing their revenue. The platform is sustainable and transparent and provides pharma companies with a cost-effective yet actionable plan of action.
Strike Pharma develops Antibody-based Treatment
Swedish startup Strike Pharma offers a proprietary adaptable drug affinity conjugate (ADAC) technology that upgrades precision medicine. It also enables individualized immunotherapeutic treatments using the genetic profile of the patient’s tumor.
The agnostic technology develops novel-antibody-based treatments customized for each patient and applies to a wide variety of diseases. The preselected agonistic antibody carrier STRIKE2001 is linked to a tumor-associated antigenic peptide cargo to create an immunotherapeutic candidate.
These clinically-relevant, cancer immunotherapeutic candidates recognize and attach to tumor cells, destroy metastases, and offer a lasting immune response. Such targeted treatments ensure the efficiency of therapeutics and decrease dosage levels and the risk of side effects.
BRI Pharma offers Therapeutic Medications and Preventative Technology for Brain Illnesses
Japanese startup BRI Pharma builds diagnosis technology and disease-modifying drugs for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). The diagnosis technology B-refine uses a single biomarker to predict dementia risk and two biomarkers for tracing brain inflammation.
Additionally, the startup builds BRI-301, a T-type calcium channel enhancer. It also offers BRI-101 and BRI-601, which inhibit FABP3 and FABP7 respectively. The resultant drug prevents the gathering of misfolding proteins comprising Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Lewy body diseases.
The technologies ensure a wide safety margin and good brain penetration and improve AD, PD, DLB-related dementia, and dystonia. It also encourages healthy aging of brain functioning.
Gain Comprehensive Insights into Pharma Trends, Startups, and Technologies
The pharma market report reveals the contribution of major trends like biosynthesis, nanomedicine, and radiopharmaceuticals to its continuous development. It shows how startups are utilizing innovative technologies to safeguard the population’s health.
Get in touch to explore 6300+ startups and scaleups, as well as all market trends impacting pharma companies.
