Lowest Price Guaranteed From USD 4,799
Companies Covered
142
Pages
215
View Count
7803
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.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
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.
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.
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.
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:
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):