Anna Ibbotson
Vice President, Chemicals and Materials
Kline and Company will join IPEC Europe 2026 in Prague to explore how specialty excipients are reshaping pharmaceutical and nutraceutical formulation. Ahead of Carlos Galan’s presentation, this article highlights the market shifts, regulatory pressures, and innovation trends redefining excipient value across oral solid dosage and parenteral applications.
Europe's Excipients Market: Small Ingredients, Big Shifts
Excipients rarely make headlines, yet they determine whether a tablet dissolves on cue, a capsule survives the stomach, and if a supplement delivers what its label promises. Europe’s market for specialty excipients in oral solid dosage forms has crossed the two-billion-euro mark and is underpinned by two key markets.
Two Markets, Moving Differently
Pharmaceuticals still dominate excipient demand, supported by higher purity requirements, stricter documentation, and the cost of registration and certification. Nutraceuticals are smaller in comparison, but they are moving in a different way: more consumer-driven, more trend-sensitive, and often shaped by demand for natural, plant-based, and lifestyle-oriented products. This makes the nutraceutical segment smaller in value today, but more dynamic in terms of formulation trends and growth opportunities.
Binders and fillers dominate volume, but value tells a more subtle story with bioavailability enhancers, specialty coatings, and disintegrants and punching well above their tonnage, as the complexity commands higher pricing. That gap between volume share and value share is where the market’s growth story is evident.
The Formulation Trends Doing The Real Work
Five developments stand out.
- Bioavailability is the defining challenge: a large share of current and pipeline drugs are poorly soluble, putting formulators under pressure and opening real opportunity for cellulosics, lipids, polymers and silica.
- Modified release with sustained-release systems, enteric coatings continue to expand on the promise of better absorption and less frequent dosing.
- Orally disintegrating tablets are outgrowing conventional tablets on patient-compliance grounds, directly benefiting disintegrants.
- Direct compression continues to spread as manufacturers chase lower cost and shorter cycle times, raising the premium on excipients with good flow and compressibility.
- Capsule shell excipients matter far more in this industry, buoyed by softgels and a steady consumer drift toward plant-derived HPMC shells over cheaper gelatin.
Regulation Has Become A Demand Driver
The regulatory backdrop is evolving, with the titanium dioxide ban in food already disrupting nutraceutical demand and under discussion for pharmaceuticals. The EU Deforestation Regulation threatens the cost base of palm-derived stearates. New nanomaterial rules could eventually reach silica-containing powders, and nitrosamine concerns now pull excipient makers into the documentation chain, even where their direct contribution is minimal. Meanwhile, registering a genuinely new excipient remains complex, lengthy and expensive and therefore arguably the sector’s single biggest brake on innovation.
Regional Nuance
Germany, France and the UK anchor pharmaceutical demand, while Italy leads demand in nutraceuticals on the strength of multinational presence and exports. Poland and Eastern Europe are emerging as cost-effective manufacturing hubs, attracting CDMOs.
In summary volume growth to 2030 looks modest, with nutraceuticals outpacing pharma; with value migrating toward functional, high-performance chemistries. Success in the market will lie with those suppliers solving solubility, sustainability and compliance and not simply relying on selling bulk.
Carlos Galan, Project Lead at Kline & Company will present
“The Future of Pharmaceutical Excipients: Growth, Innovation, and Market Shifts”
At the upcoming IPEC Europe Excipient Conference 2026 held in Prague on September 22nd-23rd
Carlos Galan is a Project Lead in Kline + Company’s Chemicals practice, specializing in specialty ingredients with a strong focus on pharmaceutical excipients. With over eight years of industry experience, Carlos has led and contributed to key projects shaping strategic decision‑making across pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and specialty chemicals markets. He has delivered multiple global and regional market analysis reports, with particular attention to excipient trends, regulatory dynamics, and sustainability. Carlos has presented insights at multiple industry conferences, sharing market perspectives with senior stakeholders and supporting data‑driven decisions across the value chain.
Carlos’ presentation will source analysis from our upcoming studies covering both parenteral and oral solid dose format for excipients.
Specialty Excipients for Parenteral Pharmaceuticals, 2026: Global
Specialty Excipients for Parenteral Pharmaceuticals, 2026: Global examines demand for excipient technologies used in injectable formulations, including liquid, lyophilized, and suspension formats. Covering the United States, Europe, and India, it assesses regional demand, pricing, innovation, supplier positioning, and competitive dynamics through 2031. As biologics, complex injectables, and advanced delivery systems raise formulation requirements, the study helps manufacturers, suppliers, and investors identify growth opportunities in parenteral excipients.
Specialty Excipients in Oral Solid Dosage Forms (OSDF): Global Analysis of Excipients for Pharmaceuticals and Nutraceuticals
Specialty Excipients in OSDF: Global Analysis of Excipients for Pharmaceuticals and Nutraceuticals examines global demand for specialty excipients used in tablets, capsules, and other oral solid dose formats. Covering pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications, the report assesses key formulation drivers including bioavailability, modified release, direct compression, coatings, and consumer-led product trends. With forecasts to 2031, it highlights growth opportunities by excipient category, chemistry, region, pricing, and supplier positioning.
