22nd March 2023
The challenges of preserving foods & drugs or extending the shelf life without compromising the stability of the product of every product have been broken down by the technology of lyophilization. It is commonly called Freeze-drying. It is a technique that converts ice directly from solid to vapor without going through a liquid phase. Water is removed from the product after it has been frozen and placed under a vacuum.
This process is made up of three distinct, interconnected processes: freezing, primary drying (sublimation), and secondary drying (desorption). The equipment required for the process of Lyophilization is a freezer dryer with the property of a vacuum-tight chamber along with a collector coil, Vacuum pump should exhibit a vacuum of 0.02mBar or lower, and vacuum-tight sample holders contain flasks or vials with adapters or chambers with tray forms.
All the process with respect to the freeze-drying is carried out in sterile conditions. Hence it avoids contamination caused by microbes/pathogens. This process forms a protective core for the product at low temperatures and it quickens the process of material dehydration. Further, the process prevents the extensive use of heat to remove the water from the product. It preserves the quality and extended the shelf life of the products. Fast and easy reestablishment of a freeze-dried product to get into its original form. All these advantages of the freeze-drying process established the demand for manufacturing efficient equipment for freeze-drying.
The Lyophilization Equipment Market has reached a value of $6.5 billion in 2022. This market is expected to grow from $ 7.15 billion in 2023 to $ 13.2 billion in 2030 with a CAGR of 9.2% in the forecast period of 2023-2030. The market of freeze-drying equipment would be estimated based on the various segment involves the technology which are Tray-style Freeze Dryers, Manifold Freeze Dryers, Rotary Freeze Dryers & other products, freeze dryer components including Vacuum Systems, CIP (Clean-in-place) Systems, Drying Chamber & Other Accessories, and application industry such as Food Processing and Packaging, Pharmaceutical & Biotech Manufacturing, and Others. The major companies involved in the manufacturing or service providing of freeze dryer instruments are Azbil Corporation, HOF Sonderanlagenbau GmbH, Labconco Corporation, Optima Packaging Group Gmbh, and GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft.
The characteristics of Lyophilization are in converting the state of the drug product from liquid to stable solid through the process of eliminating water or other solvents. This attracted the pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing industries to include the lyophilization process in their drug product manufacturing to extend the shelf-life of both small and large-molecule drugs. All these benefits drive the need for efficient Freeze-Dryer equipment for large-scale production with respect to industries. It further enhances the market growth of equipment for lyophilization. Based on the technology, the rotary freeze-dryer has seen a high impact on the lyophilization market. Since its capability of drying the product uniformly throughout compared to other types along with the provision of expanding the shell life of the product has attractive to use in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Hence, the enhanced utilization of rotary freeze-dryer contributes to the growth of the lyophilization market.
The presence of prominent manufacturers of freeze-dryer and the prevalence of utilizing a freeze-drying process as part of their product production in leading pharmaceutical, biotech, and various industries present in the region of North America lead to dominate the growing market potential of this lyophilization equipment. In addition to that, the market is expanding as a result of technological improvements, rising product approval rates, partnerships, and collaborations amongst important players.
Lyophilization is a crucial stage in the creation of biologics, diagnostics, and vaccines, therefore an increasing number of businesses have entered the market and made significant investments in the research & development area to advance the lyophilization machinery currently in use. Designing lyophilization equipment has a number of issues, one of which is stabilizing delicate biological products while maintaining their effectiveness and purity. In order to assist medication development and manufacturing, businesses must invest in the development of more sophisticated, dependable, and scalable lyophilization equipment and lyophilization technologies. Further, these challenges opened up a huge opportunity for potential companies to dive in. Thus, all these are involved in driving up the market of Lyophilization equipment in the upcoming years.