A New Turning Point in Biotechnology Innovation: The 2026 Industry Landscape Shift Driven by AI and Synthetic Biology
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Synergistic Effects of AI-Based Drug Development and Synthetic Biology
As of 2026, the biotechnology industry is experiencing a fundamental paradigm shift through the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and synthetic biology. The global biotechnology market has grown by 14.2% compared to 2025, reaching $850 billion, with the AI-based drug development sector accounting for $195.5 billion, or 23% of the total market. Notably, the synthetic biology market has expanded rapidly, growing at an average annual rate of 34.8%, reaching $42 billion by 2026.
Moderna, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is diversifying its pipeline to include cancer therapies and cardiovascular treatments following the success of its COVID-19 vaccine, leveraging its mRNA technology platform. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Moderna reported total revenue of $6.8 billion, with the proportion of revenue from COVID-19 vaccines decreasing from 82% the previous year to 61%, visibly reflecting portfolio diversification. Concurrently, the company invested $1.2 billion in its AI-based drug discovery platform in 2025, reducing drug development time from the traditional 10-15 years to 6-8 years.
Meanwhile, Samsung Biologics, a leading Korean biotech company headquartered in Songdo, Incheon, is solidifying its unique position in the global CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization) market. Achieving a revenue of 2.34 trillion won in 2025, marking an 18.7% growth from the previous year, the company is focusing on expanding its Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) production capabilities. With the completion of its fourth plant in January 2026, Samsung Biologics has increased its annual production capacity from 364,000L to 604,000L, ranking first in production capacity in the global CDMO market.
Ginkgo Bioworks, based in Boston, USA, is a leader in the field of synthetic biology, operating a platform to design and produce custom microorganisms for various industries under the vision of “programming biology.” In 2025, the company reported revenue of $423 million, an 89% increase from the previous year, with agriculture accounting for 37%, pharmaceuticals for 28%, and biofuels for 21% of the total. Ginkgo’s unique business model combines automated biology labs and an AI-based design platform to develop custom microorganisms tailored to client needs.
Thermo Fisher Scientific, headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, is a global leader in life sciences tools and services, achieving annual revenue of $48.7 billion in 2025, playing a key role in the biotech ecosystem’s infrastructure. The company’s gene sequencing and analysis equipment division accounts for 32% of total revenue, contributing to the expansion of the personalized medicine market through the integration of NGS (Next Generation Sequencing) technology and AI analysis solutions. Thermo Fisher invested $3.8 billion in R&D in 2025, representing 7.8% of its revenue.
The Rapid Rise of the Asian Biotech Market and Changes in the Global Competitive Landscape
As of 2026, the Asian biotechnology market is experiencing the fastest growth rate globally, emerging as a new central axis of the global biotech ecosystem. The Asia-Pacific biotech market size has grown by 19.3% compared to 2025, reaching $184 billion, accounting for 21.6% of the global biotech market. Korea, China, and Japan are leading this growth, with government policy support and increased private investment creating a synergistic effect.
Celltrion, headquartered in Incheon, is a global leader in the biosimilar field, achieving consolidated revenue of 2.96 trillion won in 2025, marking a 16.4% growth from the previous year. Notably, Celltrion’s global market expansion resulted in overseas sales accounting for 67% of the total in 2025. The company is securing stable profits in the European and U.S. markets with its rheumatoid arthritis treatment ‘Remsima’ and breast cancer treatment ‘Herzuma,’ and is set to announce the global phase 3 clinical trial results for its new biosimilar candidate CT-P47 (aflibercept biosimilar) in 2026.
Illumina, based in San Diego, California, is leading the expansion of the personalized medicine market with its unparalleled technology in genomic sequencing. The company reported revenue of $4.7 billion in 2025, a 12.8% increase from the previous year, with NGS (Next Generation Sequencing) systems accounting for 73% of the total. Illumina’s latest platform, NovaSeq X Plus, has reduced sequencing costs by 40% while doubling processing speed, lowering the cost of whole-genome sequencing to around $600 per genome. This cost reduction is accelerating the popularization of personalized medical services.
In particular, the Korean government’s K-Bio Belt project, with a total investment of 2.4 trillion won by 2025, has completed the construction of a bio-cluster centered around Ochang, Osong, and Daedeok. As a result of this project, Korea’s biohealth exports in 2025 increased by 23.7% from the previous year, reaching $8.9 billion, accounting for 1.4% of Korea’s total exports. Additionally, domestic bio-venture investment reached 1.82 trillion won in 2025, a 31% increase from the previous year, with AI-based drug development accounting for 42% of the total investment.
China’s biotech market is also experiencing rapid growth. In 2025, China’s biotech market size grew by 22.1% from the previous year, reaching $68 billion, with notable achievements in the CAR-T cell therapy and mRNA vaccine sectors. The Chinese government invested a total of 300 billion yuan (approximately $42 billion) in the bioeconomy through the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), and plans to increase this amount by 50% in the 15th Five-Year Plan starting in 2026.
One of the notable changes in the global biotech industry is the significant increase in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities by traditional pharmaceutical companies acquiring biotech firms. In 2025, the total global biotech M&A transaction volume reached $234 billion, a 67% increase from the previous year. Particularly, biotech companies with AI-based drug development platforms have seen a sharp rise in corporate value, with an average acquisition premium of 78%.
In terms of regulatory environment, significant changes are also occurring. The U.S. FDA released new guidelines for AI-based drug development in 2025, providing clear standards for clinical trial design and data analysis using AI algorithms. The Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) also revised the ‘Advanced Biopharmaceutical Approval Review Guidelines’ in December 2025, harmonizing the review standards for CAR-T cell therapies and gene therapies to international levels. These improvements in the regulatory environment are facilitating the global market entry of biotech companies.
From an investment perspective, while the biotech sector in 2026 still holds high growth potential, it also carries considerable risk. The global biotech index rose by 18.7% in 2025, but the performance gap between individual companies is significant. Companies announcing successful clinical trial results saw their stock prices rise by an average of 145%, while those experiencing clinical failures saw an average decline of 62%. This high volatility reflects the inherent nature of biotech investments, suggesting the necessity of portfolio diversification and a long-term investment strategy.
Looking ahead, the global biotech market is expected to expand to $1.5 trillion by 2030, with an average annual growth rate of 12.4% from 2026. Personalized medicine, gene editing, and synthetic biology are anticipated to be the main growth drivers, with the importance of the Asian market expected to increase further. It is crucial to observe the position Asian biotech companies, including those in Korea, will occupy in the global competition, and what new innovations the convergence of AI and synthetic biology will bring.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice or a solicitation. All investment decisions should be made based on individual judgment and responsibility.
