Peptide Synthesis Market to Reach $7 Billion by 2035 on GLP-1 Demand

The global peptide synthesis market will expand from $4.4 billion in 2026 to $7 billion by 2035 — a 5.2% compound annual growth rate — with GLP-1 demand and a manufacturing capacity crunch named as the primary drivers, according to a new market outlook from Roots Analysis published Monday via GlobeNewswire.

The report — the third edition of Roots Analysis’ “Peptide Synthesis Market” study — segments the industry by API type, synthesis method, chemical synthesis technology, scale of operation, company size, and geography. It attributes growth to a widening peptide therapeutics pipeline, rising demand for peptide active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), continued investment in manufacturing infrastructure, and increased outsourcing to contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs).

Nearly 100 Peptide Drugs Already Approved

Regulatory authorities worldwide have approved nearly 100 peptide-based therapies across major indications including cancer, diabetes, chronic pain, HIV infection, multiple sclerosis, and osteoporosis, the report states. That clinical track record — built on peptides’ metabolic stability, target specificity, and binding affinity — is now being amplified by the commercial success of GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonists for diabetes and obesity.

The result is acute pressure on peptide API manufacturing capacity. “Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are consequently outsourcing more clinical and commercial production to peptide CDMOs to reduce capital requirements, access specialized technologies, and accelerate product development timelines,” the report’s authors wrote.

Manufacturing Investment Reshapes the Supply Chain

The report documents a wave of capital expenditure aimed at easing the bottleneck. CordenPharma has committed more than €900 million to capacity investment, PolyPeptide is doubling capacity at its Malmö site, and Cambrex is expanding its Waltham, Massachusetts facility. CordenPharma’s multi-year agreement with Viking Therapeutics for commercial manufacturing of the GLP-1/GIP candidate VK2735 illustrates the growing importance of large-scale peptide supply partnerships.

That investment wave is the same one PeptidesBeat has been tracking through August. Samsung Biologics opened a CHF 1.46 billion tender offer for PolyPeptide on Monday, Vector Science began peptide production in late August, and CordenPharma’s acquisition of AmbioPharm earlier this year all pointed toward the same conclusion: contract manufacturing is consolidating around peptide chemistry.

Market consolidation is reinforcing the trend, the report notes, citing Granules India’s April 2025 acquisition of Senn Chemicals as an example of diversified pharmaceutical companies entering the peptide CDMO space through targeted deals.

Technology and Sustainability

On the production side, advances in solid-phase, liquid-phase, and hybrid synthesis — plus microwave-assisted, chemo-enzymatic, and continuous-flow methods — are improving scalability, productivity, and cost efficiency. Hybrid synthesis is projected to grow fastest because of its suitability for longer and more structurally complex peptide sequences.

Sustainability is also emerging as a differentiator. Traditional peptide manufacturing is solvent- and resource-intensive, and the report points to EUROAPI’s collaboration with StrainChem on sustainable liquid-phase synthesis and Innovate UK’s €913,659 investment in sustainable GLP-1 biomanufacturing as early signals of a shift toward greener chemistry.

What Comes Next

Europe is projected to hold the largest share of the market through 2035 on the strength of its manufacturing base and life-sciences clusters, while Asia-Pacific is forecast to grow fastest, led by companies such as WuXi STA. The report nonetheless flags persistent risks: capacity shortages, supply bottlenecks, high infrastructure costs, and geographic concentration that leaves the peptide supply chain exposed to regional disruptions and trade-policy uncertainty.

For a market that has spent 2026 in the regulatory spotlight — the FDA’s Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee voted in July to broaden compounding access for several peptides, a decision PeptidesBeat covered in detail — the forecast adds a supply-side data point: whoever meets the demand will need the chemistry, and that chemistry is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small group of CDMOs.

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