APTAMERS MARKET ANALYSIS

Market Size and Trends

Global aptamers market is estimated to be valued at USD 7.29 Bn in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 22.93 Bn by 2031, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.8% from 2024 to 2031.

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Increasing research and development investment in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries and growing application of aptamers in diagnostic, therapeutic development and drug discovery are some of the factors that are expected to drive the growth of global aptamers market. Aptamers have emerged as an alternative to antibodies due to their excellent binding affinity and specificity. Leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are focusing on developing various aptamer-based therapeutics and diagnostics, and this boosts demand for aptamers. Growing focus of researchers and companies on developing precision medicine is further expected to accelerate the adoption of aptamers for disease treatment and diagnosis across the world.

Market Driver – Increasing Research and Development Activities by Various Universities  

Increasing research and development by various universities is expected to drive the global aptamers market growth over the forecast period. For instance, in June 2022, a team of researchers from Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan developed RaptGen. RaptGen is a variational auto encoder that efficiently discovers new aptamers which are not included in the input SELEX dataset. SELEX dataset is an activated database on selected randomized DNA/RNA sequences addressed to genomic sequence annotation. RaptGen is a novel computational model for aptamer generation.

Market Concentration and Competitive Landscape

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Global aptamers market is expected to witness strong growth due to rising adoption of personalized medicine approach. Aptamers are increasingly being explored for their potential to enable personalized healthcare delivery by precisely recognizing molecular signatures of diseases, pathogens and patient health conditions. Significantly, aptamers can facilitate tailored therapeutic interventions and diagnosis by providing information about individual variations at the molecular level, arising from genetic or environmental factors. Their high target specificity and low immunogenicity makes them a strong key player than antibodies for developing companion diagnostics as well as therapeutics tailored for individuals or small patient subsets. Several pharmaceutical companies are evaluating aptamer candidates as biomarkers or targets for stratified medicine approaches aimed at identifying the right treatment options for the specific patients.

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Limitations of aptamers can hamper the global aptamers market growth. For instance, in August 2020, according to the data published in Journal of Nanobiotechnology, titled “Role of Novel Drug Delivery Vehicles in Nano biomedicine,” aptamers are well-established therapeutic molecules with high specificity and affinity to their target as comparable to monoclonal antibodies. As aptamers have advantages over antibodies, it also have some limitations that hindered their widespread clinical use as a therapeutic agent. Some of the limitations include renal filtration, serum stability, endocytic escape, and lack of diversity in the aptamer library, nuclease susceptibility and claims of aptamer specificity as well. Many aptamers are prone to quick degradation in biological media due to interactions with biomolecules.

Market Opportunities – Wide Applications of Aptamers

The wide range of applications of aptamers across diagnostics, therapeutics, and other industries is expected to boost its demand. Furthermore, the advantages of aptamers over antibodies such as ease of production and chemical modification is expected to increase its adoption.

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Type segment is sub-segmented into nucleic acid and peptide aptamers. Nucleic acid  segment is estimated to hold 56.4% of the market share in 2024, owing to their distinctive oligonucleotide composition. Comprised solely of short, single-stranded DNA or RNA molecules, nucleic acid aptamers are uniquely tailored to bind to their target molecules with high affinity and specificity. The ease of chemical modification during SELEX also allows nucleic acid aptamers to withstand harsh conditions like heat and organic solvents that break down antibodies. Moreover, their small size of approximately 10-30 kDa permits tissue penetration and cellular uptake that is difficult for larger antibodies. These advantages of oligonucleotide-based composition empower nucleic acid aptamers to assume a dominant foothold in applications requiring robust, well-defined targeting modules.

Insights, By Application: Diagnostic Versatility of Aptamers

Application segment is sub-segmented into diagnostics, therapeutics, research and development. Diagnostics  segment is estimated to hold 55.1% of the market share in 2024, owing to aptamers’ diagnostic versatility. As invitro molecular recognition agents, aptamers demonstrate great potential for use in lateral flow tests, colorimetric assays, and biosensors due to their intrinsic binding abilities. This makes them well-suited for point-of-care testing across various disease detection categories like infectious pathogens, protein biomarkers, and whole cell targets. Aptamers also offer benefits over antibodies in diagnostics including long shelf life at varying temperatures, facile labeling options, and reduced matrix interferences.

Insights, By End User: Pharmaceutical Advancements Fuel Demand from Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical  Companies

End User segment is sub-segmented into biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, academic and research institutions, contract research organization. Biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies segment is estimated to hold 37.9% of the market share in 2024, owing to their increased uptake of aptamer technology for drug development and validation. Aptamers hold great potential as alternative therapeutics to antibodies, owing to advantages such as low toxicity, low immunogenicity and ease of chemical modification into multivalent constructs or conjugates. These show efficacy in delivering targeted payloads to tissues or binding disease biomarkers. Many leading biopharma firms are employing aptamers to accelerate preclinical research in areas like oncology, antivirals and inflammation.

Regional Insights

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North America remains the dominant region in the global aptamers market and is estimated to hold 40.2% of the market share in 2024. With the presence of leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies conducting extensive research and development in drug discovery and therapeutic development. Stringent regulations have ensured high quality standards are met, boosting customer confidence in aptamers. Furthermore, growing awareness among healthcare professionals about the advantages of aptamer-based diagnostics and therapeutics has increased their adoption rate.

Asia Pacific represents the fastest growing regional market for aptamers. Countries like China, India, Japan and South Korea are rapidly industrializing their healthcare sectors and witnessing rising healthcare expenditures. The region also has a large patient pool suffering from chronic diseases and lower treatment costs compared to developed nations, presenting lucrative opportunities. Stringent intellectual property laws are gradually being established to safeguard innovation.

Market Report Scope

Key Developments

• In October 2023, Zentek Ltd., a graphene technology company focused on the research, development, and commercialization of graphene-based novel products, launched a wholly-owned subsidiary that will own the exclusive, global licensing rights for all aptamer-based technology from the collaboration with McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
• In September 2023, IVERIC bio, Inc., a subsidiary company of Astellas Pharma Inc., a pharmaceutical company, announced that the S. Food and Drug Administration had approved avacincaptad pegol (Izervay) for geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration. The drug is the second RNA aptamer to gain FDA approval, and the second complement-targeted drug for this cause of blindness.
• In July 2023, Zentek Ltd. and McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, developed a novel aptamer technology that increases the binding affinity of aptamers by up to 250 times. The increased binding affinity enhances the limits of detection for aptamer-based diagnostics.
• In January 2023, Aptamer Group, a biotechnology company, announced a partnership with BaseCare Therapeutics, a pre-clinical stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative siRNA-based medicines, for the development of Optimer-targeted gene therapies
• In March 2021, AstraZeneca, a pharmaceutical and biotechnological company, announced that it extended their oligonucleotide drug delivery collaboration with Aptamer Group, a biotechnology company. Under this collaboration, both will research and identify a novel targeting aptamers to deliver drug molecules to the target renal cells

*Definition: Aptamers are oligonucleotide sequences that are capable of recognizing target proteins with an affinity and specificity equal that of antibodies. Aptamers are small single stranded artificial nucleotides with low molecular weight ranging from 5-40k Dalton forming a specific three-dimensional structure. Aptamer targets include a variety of small molecules such as amino acids, nucleotides.

Market Segmentation

•  Type Insights (Revenue, USD Bn, 2019 - 2031)
  • Nucleic Acid
    • DNA-based Aptamers
    • RNA-based Aptamers
    • XNA-based Aptamers
  • Peptide Aptamers
•  Application Insights (Revenue, USD Bn, 2019 - 2031)
  • Diagnostics
  • Therapeutics
  • Research and Development
•  End User Insights (Revenue, USD Bn, 2019 - 2031)
  • Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Companies
  • Academic and Research Institutions
  • Contract Research Organization
• Regional Insights (Revenue, USD Bn, 2019 - 2031)
  • North America
    • U.S.
    • Canada
  • Latin America
    • Brazil
    • Argentina
    • Mexico
    • Rest of Latin America
  • Europe
    • Germany
    • U.K.
    • Spain
    • France
    • Italy
    • Russia
    • Rest of Europe
  • Asia Pacific
    • China
    • India
    • Japan
    • Australia
    • South Korea
    • ASEAN
    • Rest of Asia Pacific
  • Middle East
    • GCC Countries
    • Israel
    • Rest of Middle East
  • Africa
    • South Africa
    • North Africa
    • Central Africa
• Key Players Insights
  • AstraZeneca
  • Achiko AG
  • Agilent Technologies, Inc.
  • Amsbio
  • Aptagen LLC
  • Aptamer Group
  • CAGE Bio Inc.
  • GC Biopharma Corp.
  • GlyTech, Inc.
  • IVERIC bio, Inc.
  • NeoNeuro SAS
  • Novartis AG
  • Ophthotech Corporation
  • SomaLogic Operating Co., Inc.
  • TAGCyx Biotechnologies Inc.
  • Vivonics Inc.