Antibiotics Market Overview and Introduction

Antibioticsare medications that destroy or slow down the growth of bacteria. The first natural antibiotic, penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and named after Penicillium fungi. Antibiotics are widely used to treat bacterial infections and diseases.A bactericidal antibiotic kills the bacteria by interfering with either the formation of the bacterial cell wall or its cell contents.On the other hand, a bacteriostatic stops bacteria from multiplying.

The global antibiotics marketis majorly driven by the growing prevalence of infectious diseases globally. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, in 2017,  15.5 millionpatients visited physicians with infectious and parasitic diseases. The key playersare investing heavily in R&D for the development of antibiotics to cope up with their rising demand.According to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA), firms in the U.S. conduct over half the world's R&D in pharmaceuticals and hold the intellectual property rights formost new medicines. These factorsare anticipated to propel market growth during the forecast period. However, certainside effects of antibiotics, such as diarrhea, an upset stomach, and nausea,mayhinder market growth to a certain extent.

The global antibiotics market has been segmented into the following categories -drug class, route of administration, and distribution channel.

Antibiotics Market By Drug Class

Based ondrug class, themarket can besegmented into beta-lactams, macrolides, aminoglycosides, quinolones,and others. Beta-lactamswilldominate the market during the forecast period as these antibiotics include penicillins, cephalosporins, and related compounds, which are the most commonly prescribed drugs to healing infections caused by multiple groups of bacteria.

Antibiotics Market By Route Of Administration

Based onroute of administration, themarket can be segmented into oral, intravenous,and others. The oral route of administration accounted for the largest market share owing to its simplicity and convenience of administration, which further improves patient compliance.

Antibiotics Market By Distribution Channel

Based ondistribution channel, the market can be segmented into retail pharmacies and online pharmacies. Theonline pharmacies segmentdominated the marketas the medication is provided to customers at their doorstep addingconvenience tothe purchase of medication.

Antibiotics MarketBy Region

Based on the region, the global antibiotics marketcan be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World (ROW).North America dominated the market shareowing to the presence of major biopharmaceutical manufacturing companies in the region alongside governmentsin the region investing heavily in R&D activities. Moreover, increasingincidents of infectious diseases are furthercontributing to the overall market growth in the region.    

Antibiotics Market Prominent Players

Some of the key players operating in theglobal antibiotics market include GlaxoSmithKline plc., Merck & Co., Inc., Pfizer Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Sandoz International GmbH, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Abbott Laboratories., Sanofi, Allergan, Janssen Global Services, LLC,and others.