Flow Chemistry Market

According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Flow Chemistry Market is accounted for $88.70 million in 2022 and is expected to reach $186.84 million by 2028 growing at a CAGR of 13.2% during the forecast period. Flow chemistry is a technology in which a chemical reaction is run in a continuously flowing stream rather than in batch production and this technique has also enabled many chemical processes to be more efficient, safer, faster, cleaner, and cheaper. It is expected to resolve difficulties related to the size of distribution of particles, irreproducibility of size, and the quality of the nanomaterial.

Many of the benefits of flow chemistry come down to the reactors’ high surface area to volume ratio, Lévesque explains. Temperature changes are much easier to manage, eliminating cryogenic conditions that are hard to implement in large scale industrial reactors. Mixing is also much better. This typically provides better reaction control, which in turn can lead to higher yields and more sustainable processes. In making potential respiratory drug gefapixant, for example, Merck used a flow process to tightly control the reaction, improving its safety and the sustainability. As an example of simplifying a difficult process, Baumann cites a Matteson reaction used by Thermo Fisher Scientific. This involves removing a hydrogen atom from dichloromethane and replacing it with a lithium ion, then reacting it with an electrophile. To make the intermediate at batch scale involves cooling to –100°C. In flow processes the time an intermediate exists for is determined by the flow rate, which meant Thermo Fisher scientists only had to cool to –80°C. ‘That allows you to reproducibly generate the lithiated dichloromethane and quench it within half a minute before it can decompose.



Market Dynamics:

Driver:

Increasing demand from pharmaceutical sector

The flow chemistry technology is being extensively employed in the pharmaceutical sector for its role in drug discovery, chemical process development and production of pharmaceutical drugs. Flow chemistry was introduced in the pharmaceutical sector in the early 2000s when researchers began developing systems for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and intermediate synthesis. For almost a decade, flow chemistry has grown from an innovative synthesis concept to a versatile & powerful platform for the continuous manufacturing of APIs with a small manufacturing footprint, high productivity, and reduced waste & cost.

Restraint:

Requirement of specialised equipment

The disadvantage of flow chemistry is that more specialised equipment is required. The choice and cost of this equipment can make flow chemistry difficult to access. Since flow chemistry is part-engineering and part-chemistry there isn’t always the broad skillset required to make the leap to this very powerful technique. For example, if reaction tubing clogs, heterogeneous mixtures may be a little more difficult to process.

Opportunity:

Technological advancements

With rising concerns regarding climate change and the hazardous applications of chemical reactions on the environment, flow chemistry is emerging as an eco-friendly and safe chemical technology. The use of flow reactors has proven to be effective in the large-scale production of biodiesel from waste. This will provide immense business opportunities to the vendors of the market in concern during the forecast period.

The plug flow reactors (PFR) segment is expected to be the largest during the forecast period

Plug flow reactors are highly suitable for rapid reactions and large capacity processes which is expected to increase its utilization in pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing. These reactors provide huge opportunities for scaling up the production process at a low cost which is anticipated to have a positive impact on market growth in the forthcoming years.

The chemicals segment is expected to have the highest CAGR during the forecast period

Increasing demand for specialty & fine chemicals coupled with a rising focus on scaling up the production processes is expected to propel the demand for flow reactors in the chemical industry. Flow chemistry aids in reducing the number of steps and reaction rate which is likely to have a positive impact on the market growth.

Region with largest share:

Asia Pacific is projected to hold the largest market share owing to the rising health awareness, leading to increasing demand for generic drugs, is expected to propel the utilization of flow chemistry processes to scale up the manufacturing of generic drugs in the region. Furthermore, increasing investment in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry especially in India, China, and Japan is expected to benefit the market over the forecast period. For example, Syrris launched its automatic reagent injector in Asia. The product provides high throughput due to automatic sample injection through two independent channels and can synthesize complex matrix libraries.

Region with highest CAGR:

North America is projected to have the highest CAGR as U.S is the largest market for flow chemistry in North America. High chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing coupled with increasing investment by the petrochemical manufacturers is expected to play a key role in driving the regional demand in the forthcoming years.



Key players in the market:

Some of the key players profiled in the Flow Chemistry Market include Biotage AB, Syrris Ltd., Vapourtec Ltd., ThalesNano Inc., Uniqsis Ltd., Chemtrix BV, Cambridge Reactor Design Ltd., PDC Machines Inc., CEM Corporation, Future Chemistry Holding BV, Corning Incorporated and Lonza Group Ltd.

Key developments:

In February 2016: Chemtrix appointed Central Scientific Commerce as its distributor in Japan in order to facilitate direct reactor sales and customer support to the R&D and production communities in the economy.

In November 2015: Biotage AB opened a demonstration & application lab in Sweden which facilitated further research across all the product lines of the company.

Technologies Covered:
• Microwave Irradiation
• Photochemistry Based
• Gas Based

Reactors Covered:
• Continuous Flow Reactors
• Plug Flow Reactors (PFR)
• Microwave System
• Continuous Stirred Tank Reactors (CSTR)
• Meso Reactor
• Micro Reactor Systems (MRT)

Applications Covered:
• Polymers
• Chemicals
• Surgical
• Pharmaceuticals
• Bio fuels
• Agrochemicals
• Petrochemicals
• Nutraceutical Firms

End Users Covered:
• Analytical Laboratories
• Academics and Research Institutes
• Perfume & Fragrance Industries
• Agriculture and Environmental
• Food and Beverage

Regions Covered:
• North America
o US
o Canada
o Mexico
• Europe
o Germany
o UK
o Italy
o France
o Spain
o Rest of Europe
• Asia Pacific
o Japan
o China
o India
o Australia
o New Zealand
o South Korea
o Rest of Asia Pacific
• South America
o Argentina
o Brazil
o Chile
o Rest of South America
• Middle East & Africa
o Saudi Arabia
o UAE
o Qatar
o South Africa
o Rest of Middle East & Africa

What our report offers:
- Market share assessments for the regional and country-level segments
- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants
- Covers Market data for the years 2020, 2021, 2022, 2025 and 2028
- Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)
- Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations
- Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends
- Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments
- Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancements

Free Customization Offerings:
All the customers of this report will be entitled to receive one of the following free customization options:
• Company Profiling
o Comprehensive profiling of additional market players (up to 3)
o SWOT Analysis of key players (up to 3)
• Regional Segmentation
o Market estimations, Forecasts and CAGR of any prominent country as per the client's interest (Note: Depends on feasibility check)
• Competitive Benchmarking
o Benchmarking of key players based on product portfolio, geographical presence, and strategic alliances