Fragment Based Drug Discovery Market

Fragment Based Drug Discovery Market Overview

The fragment based drug discovery market is estimated to be worth $596 million in 2020 and is expected to grow at CAGR of 11% during the forecast period. Drug discovery and development is a complex and tedious process that requires a significant amount of resources and capital investment (~USD 2.6 billion). In fact, on an average, the journey from the establishment of initial proof-of-concept to commercial launch, is estimated to take around 10-12 years. However, only a small fraction of early stage therapeutic candidates are able to make it past preclinical testing, into clinical evaluation.

Further, even fewer clinical stage candidates are eventually approved for commercialization. Given the growing complexity in drug discovery research, the overall expenditure on pharmaceutical / biotechnology R&D has steadily increased over time. Specifically, in 2019, R&D spending was estimated to be around USD 182 billion, with more than 16,000 drug molecules evaluated during the course of the whole year. The industry is presently under tremendous pressure to not only identify ways to mitigate the risks of failure of drug discovery programs, but also to meet the expectations / medical needs of a growing patient population.

Despite its many advantages, high-throughput screening (HTS) is an expensive process and pharmacological leads generated via this process have been associated with high attrition rates during preclinical development. In addition, this approach is also limited in terms of the number of compounds that can be developed and stored in compound libraries. Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD), is a relatively new hit screening approach. which has been shown to offer a number of benefits, including a cost advantage and the potential to enable the generation of hits with improved physiochemical properties, over HTS. In this context, it is worth highlighting that three marketed drugs, namely Vemurafenib (ZELBORAF®), Venetoclax (VENCLEXTA®), and Erdafitinib (BALVERSA™), originated from fragment-based library screens. Nearly 40 candidates discovered via the FBDD approach are in clinical trials. In fact, currently, over 50% of discovery projects are estimated to be using the FBDD approach, which uses biophysical techniques such as X ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance. Further, the availability of bespoke fragment collections designed against individual biological targets / target families is expected to facilitate the discovery of potent pharmaceutical leads against more challenging targets, such as protein-protein interactions and allosteric sites on enzymes. The fragment based drug discovery market is likely to witness substantial market growth during the forecast period.

Recent Developments in Fragment Based Drug Discovery Market

Several recent developments have taken place in the field of fragment based drug discovery industry. We have outlined some of these recent initiatives below. These developments, even if they took place post the release of our market report, substantiate the overall market trends that have been outlined in our analysis.

• In September 2025, The Institute of Cancer Research entered into a collaboration with Enamine focusing on fragment-based drug discovery, in which Enamine will supply fluorinated fragment compounds from its in stock and REAL Space collections for profiling at ICR’s Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery.
• In April 2025, Enamine and Pohang Accelerator Laboratory signed MoU to advance collaborative drug discovery, with a focus on fragment based drug discovery and hit optimization to accelerate the pathway from fragment hit identification to advanced lead compounds.

Key Companies in Fragment Based Drug Discovery Market

Examples of key companies engaged in fragment based drug discovery industry (which have also been profiled in this market report; the complete list of companies is available in the full report) include 2bind, Charles River Laboratories, ChemAxon, ComInnex, Creative Biolabs, CRELUX, Domainex, Evotec, Red Glead Discovery, SARomics Biostructures, Shanghai ChemPartner, Sygnature Discovery and Vernalis Research. This market report includes an easily searchable excel database of all the companies providing fragment based drug discovery services, worldwide.

Scope of the Fragment Based Drug Discovery Market Report

The Fragment Based Drug Discovery Market report features an extensive study of the current market landscape, market size, market share, market growth, market trends, market value, market forecast, market outlook, statistics and future opportunities. It features an in-depth analysis, highlighting the capabilities of various stakeholders engaged in fragment based drug discovery market.

In addition to other elements, the market research report includes:

• A detailed review of the overall landscape of  fragment-based drug discovery library and service providers along with the information on type of product (library and technology), type of service offered (fragment screening and fragment optimization), type of technique used (X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, surface plasmon resonance, and other screening techniques), other services offered (target identification / validation, hit identification, hit-to-lead / lead generation, lead optimization), and end user (industry, academia, and contract research organizations).
• Elaborate profiles of the companies providing libraries and services for fragment-based drug discovery (shortlisted on the basis of the service portfolio and number of fragment screening techniques offered). Each profile features a brief overview of the company, its financial information (if available), fragment-based library and service portfolio, information on other drug discovery services, recent developments and an informed future outlook.
• An analysis of the partnerships that have been established in the recent past, covering R&D collaborations, mergers and acquisitions, product development and commercialization agreements, commercialization agreements, distribution and supply agreements, product integration agreements, service agreements, and other relevant types of deals.
• A detailed analysis on acquisition targets, taking into consideration the historical trend of the activity of the companies that have acquired other firms since 2015, and offering a means for other industry stakeholders to identify potential acquisition targets.
• An insightful competitiveness analysis of fragment-based drug discovery library and service providers, based on supplier power (based on the years of experience of service provider) and key specifications, such as type of product, number of screening techniques, and the number of deals signed between 2015-2020.
• An analysis highlighting the cost saving potential associated with the use of fragment-based drug discovery approach.

The key objective of fragment based drug discovery market report is to provide a detailed market analysis in order to estimate the existing market size, market share, market growth, market trends, market value, market forecast, market outlook, statistics and future opportunity over the forecast period. Based on multiple parameters, such as annual number of drug discovery projects, outsourcing profile, and adoption of fragment-based drug discovery approach, we have provided informed estimates on the evolution of the market for the forecast period 2020-2030. The market report also features the likely distribution of the current and forecasted opportunity across [A] type of technique (X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, surface plasmon resonance and other screening techniques), [B] type of service (library screening, fragment screening and fragment optimization), [C] end user (industry, academia and contract research organizations), and [D] key geographical regions (US, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, rest of Europe, Japan, China, and India). In order to account for future uncertainties and to add robustness to our model, we have provided three market forecast scenarios, namely conservative, base and optimistic scenarios, representing different tracks of the industry’s growth. 

The opinions and insights presented in this market research report were influenced by discussions conducted with multiple stakeholders in fragment based drug discovery market. The market report features detailed transcripts of interviews held with the following industry stakeholders:

• Jean-Yves Ortholand, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, Edelris
• Björn Walse, Chief Executive Officer, SARomics Biostructures

All actual figures have been sourced and analyzed from publicly available information forums and primary research discussions. Financial figures mentioned in this market research report are in USD, unless otherwise specified.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: What is fragment based drug discovery?

Answer: Fragment based drug discovery (FBDD), is a novel screening approach which includes a cost advantage and the potential to enable the generation of hits with improved physiochemical properties, over high-throughput screening.

Question 2: How big is the fragment based drug discovery market?

Answer: The fragment based drug discovery market size is estimated to be worth $596 million in 2020.

Question 3: What is the projected market growth of the fragment based drug discovery market?

Answer: The fragment based drug discovery market is expected to grow at compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11% during the forecast period 2020 – 2030.

Question 4: Who are the key companies in the fragment based drug discovery market?

Answer: Examples of leading technology and service providers engaged in fragment based drug discovery market (which have also been profiled in this market report; the complete list of companies is available in the full report) include 2bind, Charles River Laboratories, ChemAxon, ComInnex, Creative Biolabs, CRELUX, Domainex, Evotec, Red Glead Discovery, SARomics Biostructures, Shanghai ChemPartner, Sygnature Discovery and Vernalis Research.

Question 5: How many companies are currently engaged in the fragment based drug discovery market?

Answer: Over 85 companies are currently engaged in the fragment based drug discovery market, offering fragment based drug discovery libraries and services.

Question 6: How many partnership deals have been inked between the players engaged in fragment based drug discovery market?

Answer: Over the last five years, more than 65 partnership deals have been inked between the players engaged in fragment based drug discovery market, highlighting the consolidation efforts of stakeholders in the industry.

Question 7: How many marketed drugs were screened using fragment based drug discovery method?

Answer: Three marketed drugs, namely Vemurafenib (ZELBORAF®), Venetoclax (VENCLEXTA®), and Erdafitinib (BALVERSA™), originated from fragment based library screens.