Cell-free Protein Expression Market (By Product: Expression Systems, Reagents; By Application: Enzyme Engineering, Protein Labeling; By Method; By End-use) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, Revenue, Regional Outlook and Forecast 2022-2030

The global cell-free protein expression market was valued at USD 229.82 million in 2021 and it is predicted to surpass around USD 475.33 million by 2030 with a CAGR of 8.41% from 2022 to 2030.

Growing demand for novel biologic products for the treatment of severe chronic diseases such as, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and anemia is a major factor contributing to the market growth. For instance, as reported by the world health organization (WHO) in 2020, there were 10 million deaths or about 1 in 6 deaths due to cancer making it to be one of the major causes of death worldwide. Such rising cancer incidences are increasing the adoption of protein biologics as an alternative treatment option due to their target-specific treatment with fewer side effects compared to other treatments which is positively impacting the market growth.

Funding in genomic sciences and precision medicine R&D is aiding the market growth. For instance, in May 2022, the Medical College of Wisconsin's Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine received USD 10 million funding for exploring genomic applications for the treatment of various rare and undiagnosed diseases. Moreover, investments by government initiatives are advancing and expanding the R&D activities of proteomics. For instance, in August 2020, the National Institutes of Health granted a $10.6 Million Federal Grant to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to expand its proteomic resources. Similarly, in June 2022 British Columbia government invested and is managing large-scale genomics and proteomics research projects based on health, forestry, and agriculture among others. Thus, such funding initiatives are expected to boost the adoption of the proteomics and genomics in R&D and fuel the market growth during the forecast period.

Moreover, the surge in infectious diseases such as lower respiratory infections and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), among others in recent years due to climate change, changing land-use patterns, and rapid urbanization are expected to aid in the market growth. For instance, according to WHO, lower respiratory infections ranked fourth place in causing deaths globally. In addition, in 2020, according to UNAIDS there were approximately 38.4 million people across the globe with HIV. Thus, the rise in infectious diseases require effective diagnosis and treatment options such as CFPE in the market. For instance, CFPE based system can be activated in less time by adding water. This feature helps in the portable diagnosis of infectious diseases. Therefore, rising infectious diseases can increase the applications of CFPS in treatment and diagnosis, and are likely to contribute to the market growth in the near future.

The development of vaccines and treatment was an emergency requirement globally to treat and combat the spread of COVID-19 infection. The low-cost, rapid manufacture and production of therapeutic antibodies were expected in the market. The conventional method of manufacturing antibodies relied on cell-based protein expression and this production required nine months or more. The CFPE-based vaccine production cut the time from a few months to one month or a few weeks. For instance, SwiftSacle Biologics, cell-free lysate-derived E. coli bacteria shrank the timeline of vaccine production from nine months to one month and turned out to be a game changer during the pandemic. Therefore, the CFPS advantages over traditional cell-based methods increased the applications of CFPS in the industries during COVID-19 and led to a boost in the market growth.

The increase in investments by various pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceutical companies is increasing the R&D activities of genomics & proteomics in drug development. For instance, Thermo Fisher Scientific invested in a spatial proteomics Ionpath firm to scale up the MIBIscope instruments and end-to-end spatial proteomics services to meet the increasing demand for services. In addition, in Jan 2022, Protai received funding of $8 million to provide an AI-based proteomics platform. This effective approach improved the development process and accuracy of drug discovery by saving time and lowering the costs of R&D. Such R&D investments increased the adoption of proteomics and genomics and are expected to contribute to the market growth.

On the other hand, Cell-free protein expression turns costly in the up scaled experiments due to the complexity of the cell-free lysates from the eukaryotic sources and the challenges in post-translational modifications of biomolecules due to misfolding or pleiotropic interactions with cellular components. The CFPE offers low protein production that can be used in small scale production and turns expensive for large scale production in industries. For instance, as per a research article published in the Journal of visualize experiments in Feb 2019, commercial CFPS kits, such as iPE-Quick Kit (Sigma-Aldrich) cost around USD 0.82 per microgram of protein, while Expressway (Thermo Fisher) costs about USD 0.76 per microgram of protein, excluding the cost of labor and equipment. Therefore, CFPE is expensive in large scale production and can impede the market growth.

Scope of The Report

Product Insights

The expression systems segment held the highest share of the market in 2021. E. coli lysates is one of the most preferred lysates commercially due to cost-effectiveness and higher protein yield. Moreover, E. coli-based systems used in recombinant technology are used for a wide range of biological therapeutics, involving insulin.

Wheat Germ Cell-free Protein Expression System is expected to expand at fastest CAGR. The wheat germ system offers the maximum translation efficiency amongst the eukaryotic CFPE approaches and has extreme success rate for the expression of soluble proteins of exceptional quality.In addition, this system is a choice of preference for numerous applications in protein research comprising options for protein labeling and the expression of proteins such as multiple protein complexes and membrane proteins.

Application Insights

The enzyme engineering segment dominated the market with a share of 34.97% in 2021. With the continuous growth of enzyme engineering, it has played an important role in biomanufacturing synthetic biology, and medicine. Lately, cell-free synthetic biology approaches for enzyme engineering have been used as an alternative strategy. This method has no constraint of the cell membrane and does not need to maintain the cell viability, and each of the biosynthetic pathways are highly flexible.

Moreover, the high throughput production system is expected to register fastest CAGR. The usage of CFPS for high-throughput enzyme screening has been proven to be a competent technique to discover improved enzyme variants and novel biocatalysts. The incorporation of cutting-edge high-throughput technologies allows the application of Cell-free protein expression system for speedy prototyping to fast-track the screening procedure of enzymes with enhanced characteristics.

Method Insights

The transcription & translation systems segment captured the highest revenue share of the market in 2021. Coupled translation and transcription systems provides investigators time-saving options for eukaryotic in vitro translation and transcription, by connecting these procedures in single tube format. Transcription and translation systems are used for numerous applications in low-to-high throughput functional proteome and genome analyses.

End-use Insights

The pharmaceutical & biotechnological companies segment captured the highest revenue share of the market in 2021. The expansion of the current manufacturing capacities for biopharmaceuticals drives the demand for cell-free protein expression products. For instance, in February 2022 Takara Bio Inc. announced the opening of an expansion of its manufacturing facility, the Center for Gene and Cell Processing in Shiga, Japan. The GMP facility development will address an increasing demand for contract development and manufacturing companies It will also meet the necessity for a broader variety of raw materials and manufacturing modalities. Manufactured products will contain regenerative medicines, RNA and DNA vaccines, and cancer immunotherapy drugs and gene therapy

Other end-user segment is expected to expand at a fastest CAGR in the review period. Growing investment in pharmaceutical R&D, rising number of Antibody-Drug Conjugates clinical trials are some of the factors driving the market growth. For instance, globally more than 50 antibody-drug conjugates are in clinical trials and 250 are under development, antibody-drug conjugates product quality features are often extra complex than those for the therapeutic proteins alone. Cell-free synthesis provides the ability to include nonstandard amino acids, which allows rapid prototyping of proteins, number of conjugation sites and control of the location, and consequent incorporation and scaling of potent toxins as loads.

Regional Insights

North America dominated the regional market with a share of 36.29% in 2021. This major share can be attributed to the growth in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, technological advanced products, and the rising incidence of diseases such as cancer coupled with investments and funding in drug discovery research. For instance, In April 2021 Promega announced the opening of the newly constructed R&D facility (Kornberg Center) on its Fitchburg, WI campus. The building will support essential technology and product development in genetic identity, cellular and molecular biology, life science research, scientific applications, clinical diagnostic, and training.

The Asia Pacific is estimated to be the fastest-growing region owing to the strategic activities by key market players. For instance, In July 2021, CELLFREE SCIENCES CO., LTD, a Japanese company, received funding from Ehime Prefecture under the Ehime Prefecture New Growth Manufacturing Company Comprehensive Support Program. The company will use their own technologies comprising a protein bead array platform to discover new therapeutic concepts and drug targets.

Key Players

• Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.
• Takara Bio Company
• Merck KGaA
• New England Biolabs
• Promega Corporation
• Jena Bioscience GmbH
• GeneCopoeia, Inc.
• Biotechrabbit GmbH
• Cube Biotech GmbH
• CellFree Sciences Co., Ltd.

Market Segmentation

• By Product Outlook

• Expression Systems

• E. coli Cell-free Protein Expression System         
• Wheat Germ Cell-free Protein Expression System
• Rabbit Reticulocytes Cell-free Protein Expression System      
• Insect Cells Cell-free Protein Expression System          
• Human Cell-free Protein Expression System
• Others
• Reagents
• By Application Outlook
• Enzyme Engineering
• High Throughput Production
• Protein Labeling
• Protein-Protein Interaction
• Protein Purification
• By Method Outlook
• Transcription & Translation systems      
• Translation systems
• By End-User Outlook
• Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies
• Academic and Research Institutes
• Others
• By Regional Outlook
• North America

• U.S.
• Canada
• Europe
• UK
• Germany
• France
• Italy
• Spain
• Asia Pacific
• China
• Japan
• India
• South Korea
• Australia
• Latin America
• Brazil
• Mexico
• Argentina
• Middle East and Africa
• South Africa
• Saudi Arabia
• UAE