Medical Membrane Market - Forecast(2023 - 2028)

Medical Membrane Market Overview

The Medical Membrane Market size is forecast to reach US$3.8 billion by 2027, after growing at a CAGR of 9.3% during the forecast period (2022-2027). The medical membrane is primarily composed of materials that include polyethersulfone, polypropylene, polyvinylidene fluoride, polyethylene, and more. It is used for a wide range of applications such as pharmaceutical filtration, artificial organs, tissue regeneration, blood oxygenation, infusion therapy, hemodialysis, drug delivery, and other similar applications. According to Institute for Healthcare Informatics, the overall volume of medicines used across the globe reached around 4.5 trillion doses by 2020 with an approximate cost of around US$1.4 trillion. An increase in demand for medical drugs and medicines along with the development of new pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities acts as the major driver for the market. On the other hand, the lower shelf life of medical membranes may act as a constraint to the growth of the market.

COVID-19 Impact

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 lockdown had impacted the medical membrane industry. Strict lockdowns all over the world interrupted the entire supply and trade of raw materials from manufacturing hubs. This, in turn, resulted in slow developments and manufacturing of drugs along with severely affecting multiple companies that primarily depended on outsourcing. However, the medical membrane industry started gaining momentum during the end of 2020, owing to an increase in demand for medical drugs and vaccines used during COVID-19. For instance, according to recent insights published on PLOS medicine, the cumulative volume of antibiotics that were sold in 2020 was about 16,290 million doses. Industrial salts are primarily used during the production of medicines and the preparation of saline solutions and intravenous formulas. Likewise, Gilead Sciences reported that its total revenue increased by 17% after incorporating the sales of coronavirus treatment Remdesivir. Hence, the increasing demand for medical drugs and vaccines to be manufactured in bulk in many countries across the world during COVID-19 resulted in the growth of the medical membrane market as it plays a significant role in controlling the rate of delivery of drugs to the body as well as drug infusion to achieve the required rate of drug delivery. This indicates a steady recovery of the market in the upcoming years.

Report Coverage

The report: “Medical Membrane Market Report– Forecast (2022-2027)”, by IndustryARC covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the Medical Membrane Industry.

By Material Type: Polyethersulfone, Polytetrafluoroethylene, Polypropylene, Polyvinylidene Fluoride, Polyethylene, Nylon, Regenerated Cellulose, Others.
By Process Technology: Ultrafiltration, Microfiltration, Nanofiltration, Gas Filtration, Others.
By Application: Pharmaceutical Filtration, Drug Delivery, Artificial Organs, Tissue Regeneration, Blood Oxygenation, Infusion Therapy, Hemodialysis, Others.
By Geography: North America (USA, Canada, and Mexico), Europe (the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Russia, Belgium, and the Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia, and the Rest of Asia-Pacific), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile and the Rest of South America), the Rest of the World (the Middle East, and Africa).

Key Takeaways

Figure: Europe Medical Membrane Market Revenue, 2021-2027 (US$ Billion)

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Medical Membrane Market Segment Analysis – By Material Type

The polyethersulfone material held the largest share in the Medical Membrane Market in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.4% between 2022 and 2027, owing to its increasing demand due to the characteristics and benefits it offers over other types of materials. For instance, polyethersulfone offers excellent thermal and mechanical properties that make it an effective material in medical applications and waste-treatment membranes in comparison to polyethylene, nylon, polypropylene, and other materials. Polyethersulfone is a hydrophilic membrane that provides faster filtration, a superior flow rate and is widely used for aqueous solutions in order to remove fine particles, fungi, and bacteria. Moreover, it offers unique properties such as excellent thermal strength, mechanical strength, and hydrolytic strength in multiple environments as compared to polyethylene, nylon, polypropylene, and other materials. All of these properties make it ideal for the production of ultrafiltration, microfiltration, and gas separation membranes. Thus, all of these properties of polyethersulfone are driving its demand over other types of materials, which in turn, is expected to boost the market growth during the forecast period.

Medical Membrane Market Segment Analysis – By Application

Pharmaceutical filtration held the largest share in the Medical Membrane Market in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.5% between 2022 and 2027, owing to the increasing production of medical drugs and expansion of healthcare facilities across the world. For instance, Continuous Pharmaceuticals invested around US$ 125 million in order to build a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Massachusetts, U.S. in 2021. The development of the new facility began in October 2021 and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2022. Furthermore, in December 2021, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals invested around US$ 200 million to build a new pharmaceutical drug manufacturing facility in Verona, Wisconsin. The development of the facility is scheduled to be completed in 2023. In November 2021, Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd. invested around US$ 20.1 million to build a new medical drug manufacturing plant in India. The facility will be built on an area of 8,000-square-meter and is expected to be operational by 2023.

Medical membranes are used in pharmaceutical filtration procedures in such facilities for the removal of potential contaminants that may enter the drug manufacturing process through steam, gases, or other liquids used during its production. In this way, such increasing development of new pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities is expected to increase the demand for medical membranes, thus, driving the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Medical Membrane Market Segment Analysis – By Geography

Europe held the largest share in the Medical Membrane Market in 2021 up to 34%. The consumption of medical membranes is particularly high in this region due to its increasing demand from the pharmaceutical sector. Medical membranes are primarily used in pharmaceutical facilities for filtration procedures in order to remove potential contaminants that may enter the drug manufacturing process through steam, gases, or other liquids used during its production and prevent the production of poor quality medicines or pharmaceutical products. For instance, in June 2021, Baxter International Inc., a leading company in sterile medication production and delivery, invested around US$ 100 million in the development of its sterile manufacturing facility located in Germany. This new pharmaceutical manufacturing facility is expected to be completed in 2024. Furthermore, in May 2021, Novartis' Sandoz invested around EUR 150 million (US$ 183.32 million) for the development of antibiotics manufacturing plants in Austria and Spain over the next three to five years. In this way, such increasing development of new pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in the region is expected to increase the demand for medical membranes, thus, driving the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Medical Membrane Market – Drivers

An increase in demand for medical drugs and medicines is most likely to increase demand for the product

Medical membranes are primarily used to control the rate of delivery of drugs to the body as well as drug infusion to achieve the required rate of drug delivery. According to the data on therapeutic drug use in the U.S. published by National Centre for Health Statistics, the number of drugs that were ordered and provided through physician office visits reached around 2.9 billion, and the number of drugs that were given or prescribed through hospital emergency department visits reached around 336 million in 2020. As the demand for drugs in the pharmaceutical sectors across the globe increases, the demand for the use of medical membranes required during the production of these medicines is also expected to increase significantly. This is expected to accelerate the growth of the market in the upcoming years.

An increase in the development of new pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities is most likely to increase demand for the product

The demand for medical membranes has been increasing rapidly as it is primarily used in pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, owing to their superior filtration property and excellent flow rate. For instance, in January 2020, Eli Lilly invested around US$ 474 million to build a new pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in North Carolina, U.S. The facility is anticipated to be operational by the end of 2023. Furthermore, in May 2021, BD (Becton, Dickinson, and Company) announced its plan to build a new pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Spain to strengthen its drug delivery business. The overall cost of building the new facility was valued at around EUR 165 million (US$ 200 million). The development of the facility is scheduled to be completed by 2030.

In this way, such new development in pharmaceutical manufacturing plants is expected to increase the demand for medical membranes required for the pharmaceutical filtration process in such facilities for the removal of potential contaminants during the drug manufacturing process. This is expected to drive the growth of the market in the upcoming years.

Medical Membrane Market – Challenges

Lower shelf life of medical membranes may confine the market growth

The overall shelf life of a specific type of membrane used in a separation procedure for medical application is limited, thus, it needs frequent replacement after a specific period of time. The medical membranes that are primarily employed in various medical procedures are highly susceptible to fouling, resulting in the degradation of their functional and operational quality. Applications such as treatment of pharmaceutical water or any pharmaceutical filtration or purification process would result in unwanted components such as manganese, iron, calcium, and other ions forming precipitate on the membrane surface. This may foul the membrane and decrease the overall life expectancy of the membrane, as a result, frequent replacement of the medical membranes would be required. Thus, such issues associated with the lower shelf life of medical membranes may confine the market growth.

Medical Membrane Industry Outlook

Technology launches, acquisitions, and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the Medical Membrane Market. Medical Membrane top 10 companies are:

1. 3M Company
2. Abbott Laboratories
3. Aethlon Medical, Inc.
4. Agilent Technologies
5. Asahi Kasei Medical Co., Ltd.
6. Baxter International Inc.
7. Becton, Dickinson, and Company
8. B. Braun Medical Inc.
9. Cantel Medical Corporation
10. Fresenius Group

Recent Developments

• In September 2021, Nexa3D launched its new membrane Everlast-2 for medical applications. The new membrane offers increased functional durability and improved surface quality.
• In April 2021, Asahi Kasei’s Specialty Solutions launched new services for membrane process chlor-alkali electrolysis. The main motive of the launch is to provide enhanced to customers throughout the Chlor-alkali industry.
• In December 2020, Collagen Matrix Inc. acquired Sunstar's Degradable Solutions division which includes its Guidor branded line of synthetic medical implants and membranes. The main motive of this acquisition is to strengthen the company’s emergent membrane and medical implant business.

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