Taste Masking Services Market

Taste Masking Services Market Overview

The taste masking services market is estimated to be worth $221 million in 2022 and is expected to grow at compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6% during the forecast period. The oral solid dosage (OSD) market is the largest segment in the pharmaceutical industry, anticipated to reach over USD 900 billion by 2027. However, one of key concerns associated with this industry is that the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used in orally administered dosage forms inherently possess an unpleasant taste / odor. The existence of such taste in drug formulations is unappealing and has been shown to have a negative impact on patient compliance, particularly among the pediatric and geriatric patient population. In fact, in an event hosted by Adare Pharma Solutions and International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF), it has been reported that 30% to 40% of the pediatric population refuses to take a solid or liquid medication and about 26% of the geriatric population reports difficulty in swallowing tablets and capsules. Given the fact that there are numerous taste receptors on the tongue, it is difficult to block the taste of such drugs pharmacologically. Therefore, in order to overcome the bitter taste of drugs, numerous conventional and novel techniques of taste masking for bitterness of drugs are being employed by pharmaceutical players; these include addition of sweeteners, coating, microencapsulation and hot-melt extrusion. Studies have suggested that application of taste masking technologies in oral drugs can increase the patience compliance from 53% to 90%.

Various pharmaceutical companies are actively investing time, capital and resources to develop palatable, pleasant-taste drug formulations, as well as a variety of taste masking agents and taste assessment procedures for the drug dosage forms meant for children and elderly patients. However, the overall process of development and assessment of taste-masked formulations is associated with several challenges, including variation in taste and its intensity in different APIs due to varying chemistries, identifying globally acceptable tastes, developing flavor matching placebo formulations (for testing) ensuring compliance with stringent regulatory guidelines and good clinical practices (GCPs), clinical research costs, and managing product life cycle. The aforementioned reasons have prompted the pharmaceutical companies to outsource the taste masking and taste assessment related operations to third party taste masking service providers with expertise in this area.

Presently, 50 taste masking service providers claim to offer services for taste-masking and taste-assessment, development and commercialization of taste masked formulations in compliance with the regulatory guidelines. Taste masking service providers also assist in assessment of taste masking agents in order to develop technologies suitable for wide range of formulations with different APIs. Over time, centralized agencies, including the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) have streamlined efforts related to assessing the palatability of taste-masked drugs. Additionally, the last few years have witnessed several strategic alliances between the players in this domain for expansion of existing taste masking capabilities to ensure drug formulations’ palatability and commercial success. Moreover, stakeholders are actively looking for patient-centric and age-appropriate dosage forms and novel excipients. Given the ongoing efforts to enhance palatability of oral drug formulations, drug adherence and patient compliance, the taste masking services market is likely to witness a steady market growth during the forecast period.

Key Companies in Taste Masking Services Market 

Examples of key companies engaged in taste masking services market (which have also been profiled in this market report; the complete list of companies is available in the full report) include AbbVie, Catalent, Fertin Pharma, Lonza, NextPharma, Patheon, Quotient Sciences and Senopsys. This market research report includes an easily searchable excel database of all the companies providing taste masking services, worldwide.

Recent Developments in Taste Masking Services Market:

Several recent developments have taken place in the field of taste masking services market. We have outlined some of these recent initiatives below. These developments, even if they took place post the release of our market research report, substantiate the overall market trends that have been outlined in our analysis.

• In July 2023, Aenova entered into a strategic partnership with Galvita in order to improve the development, formulation and production of oral dosage forms. Additionally, the partnership focuses on faster oral disintegration, better taste masking and higher drug loading.

Scope of the Report

The ‘Taste Masking Services Market, 2022-2035: Distribution by Type of Formulation ((Solids and Liquids), Type of Techniques (Coating, Microencapsulation, Organoleptic Method, Hot Melt Extrusion and Inclusion Complexation), Scale of Operation (Preclinical / Clinical and Commercial) and Key Geographical Regions (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World): Industry Trends and Global Forecasts’ market report features an extensive study of the current market landscape, market size, market forecast and future opportunities for the companies offering taste masking services and technologies. The market report features an in-depth analysis, highlighting the diverse capabilities of stakeholders engaged in this field, as highlighted below in the market segmentation table.

Market Segmentation

Report Attribute	Details
Forecast Period	2022 – 2035
Type of Formulation	Solids, Liquids
Type of Techniques	Coating, microencapsulation, organoleptic method, hot melt extrusion, ion exchange resin
Scale of Operation	Preclinical / clinical, commercial
Key Geopgrahical Regions	North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World

 

In addition to other elements, the study includes:

• A detailed assessment of the current market landscape of taste masking service providers, providing information on type of service(s) offered (taste masking and taste assessment), scale of operation (preclinical / clinical and commercial), manufacturing scalability, other service(s) offered along with information on type of formulation (tablets, granules, capsules, suspensions, solutions, syrups, emulsions, semi-solids and others), end users (pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and others), techniques used for taste masking (hot melt extrusion, microencapsulation, coating, ion exchange resin and others), branch of healthcare (pediatrics, geriatrics and others) and regional capability. In addition, the chapter provides details on the year of establishment, company size and location of headquarters of companies providing taste masking services.
• A detailed assessment of the current market landscape of taste masking and taste assessment technology providers, providing information on technology name, type of service(s) offered (taste masking and taste assessment), techniques used, type of formulation (tablets, capsules, liquid, powder and others), end users (pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and others) along with information on patent, availability of technology for partnerships and licensing. In addition, the chapter provides details on the companies providing technology platforms for the purpose of taste masking and taste assessment, along with information on their year of establishment, company size and location of headquarters.
• Elaborate profiles of key players engaged in providing taste masking services; each profile features a brief overview of the company, its financial information (if available), service portfolio, technology portfolio and an informed future outlook.
• Elaborate profiles of key players engaged in providing technology platforms for taste masking and taste assessment; each profile features a brief overview of the company, its financial information (if available), technology portfolio and an informed future outlook.
• An in-depth competitiveness analysis of taste masking service providers based in different geographies, by taking into consideration the company strength (based on its experience), service portfolio (service(s) offered, scale of operation, type of formulation, techniques used for taste masking, branch of healthcare) and regional capability (operational area of the company).
• A brief description of various types of partnership models (namely asset acquisition, manufacturing agreement, research and development and technology licensing agreement) adopted by stakeholders engaged in this field. It is worth mentioning that the data captured during our research was analyzed based on several parameters, including year of partnership, type of partnership, purpose of partnership, type of service(s) offered, scale of operation, type of formulation and geographical location of players involved in a partnership.
• An insightful analysis of the patents filed / granted for taste masking and taste assessment since 2017, taking into consideration various relevant parameters, including type of patent, publication year, geographical location, CPC symbols, emerging focus areas, leading players (in terms of number of patents granted / filed in the given time period), patent characteristics and geography. In addition, the chapter includes a detailed patent benchmarking and an insightful valuation analysis.
• A case study on companies providing pharmaceutical excipients employed for taste masking, featuring a detailed analysis based on several parameters, including company’s year of establishment, company size, location of headquarters, functional properties of the excipients and type of formulation developed using those excipients.

One of the key objectives of this market report is to provide a detailed market forecast analysis in order to estimate the existing market size and future opportunity of the taste masking services market. We have provided informed estimates on the likely evolution of the market in the short to mid-term and long term, for the forecast period 2022-2035. Our year-wise projections of the current and future opportunity have further been segmented across types of formulations (solids and liquids), types of techniques (coating, microencapsulation, organoleptic method, hot melt extrusion and inclusion complexation), scales of operation (preclinical / clinical and commercial), and key geographies (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World). 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 study were also influenced by discussions conducted with multiple stakeholders in this domain. The report features detailed transcripts of interviews held with the following individuals (in alphabetical order of company / organization names):

• Phillipe Tschopp (Head of Business Development, Glatt Pharmaceutical Services)
• David Tisi (Director of Technical Operations, Senopsys)
• Brandon Keener (Business Development Associate, Adare Pharma Solutions)

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: What is taste masking of pharmaceuticals?

Answer: Taste masking refers to the addition of sweeteners, coating, microencapsulation and hot-melt extrusion to subdue the conventional taste of pharmaceutical compositions.

Question 2: How big is the taste masking services market?

Answer: The taste masking services market size is estimated to be worth $222 million in 2022.

Question 3: What is the projected market growth of the taste masking services market?

Answer: The taste masking services market is expected to grow at compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6% during the forecast period 2022 - 2035.

Question 4: Who are the leading companies in the taste masking services market?

Answer: Examples of key companies engaged in taste masking services market (which have also been profiled in this market report; the complete list of companies is available in the full report) include AbbVie, Catalent, Fertin Pharma, Lonza, NextPharma, Patheon, Quotient Sciences and Senopsys.

Question 5: How many companies are currently engaged in the taste masking services market?

Answer: Presently, 50 companies claim to offer services in the taste masking services market.

Question 6: How many patents have been filed / granted related to taste masking and taste assessment till date?

Answer: Till date, over 460 patents have been filed / granted related to taste masking and taste assessment.

Question 7: Which region is the hub for companies engaged in the taste masking services market?

Answer: North America emerged as the hub for companies engaged in the taste masking services market for drug compositions, with 40% of the companies established in the region.