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English
Alpha-lipoic acid, one of the most powerful antioxidants discovered to date, is both fat-soluble and water-soluble. Alpha-lipoic acid belongs to the B-vitamin family, is an endogenous disulfide compound in the human body, and has the functions of scavenging free radicals and reactive oxygen species (antioxidation), chelating metal ions, and regenerating other antioxidants. Therefore, its applications are very extensive.
From the perspective of the alpha-lipoic acid industry chain, the upstream raw materials mainly include adipic acid, ethanol, and sulfur. The midstream involves the production and sales of alpha-lipoic acid series products. The downstream application fields mainly include pharmaceuticals and health products. In the pharmaceutical field, alpha-lipoic acid is mainly used for the treatment of various diseases such as diabetic peripheral neuropathy and neurological complications. In the field of health products, it can scavenge free radicals in the body, prevent lipid peroxidation, thereby delaying aging, beautifying, and activating cells. It is often used in oral nutritional supplements.
Alpha-lipoic acid is a vitamin-like substance that can eliminate free radicals that accelerate aging and cause diseases. It is an enzyme present in mitochondria. After being absorbed by the intestines, alpha-lipoic acid enters the cells, possessing both fat-soluble and water-soluble characteristics. Therefore, it can circulate throughout the body without obstruction, reaching any cell part, providing comprehensive efficiency to the human body. It is the only omnipotent active oxygen agent with both fat-soluble and water-soluble properties.
Alpha-lipoic acid series products maintain a relatively stable competitive landscape and continuous downstream demand. Moreover, the cost proportion of alpha-lipoic acid in downstream products is not high, so downstream customers are relatively insensitive to cost. For pharmaceuticals, the proportion is about 7%, and for health products, it's less than 25%.
With the development of the health product industry and the increase in penetration rate of alpha-lipoic acid, the market for alpha-lipoic acid is steadily growing. According to data, the global market scale for alpha-lipoic acid was 806 million USD in 2020 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.3% from 2021, reaching 1.236 billion USD by 2027.
From the demand side, alpha-lipoic acid is mainly used as a health supplement, with strong overseas demand. Since 1997, the U.S. FDA approved the inclusion of alpha-lipoic acid in dietary supplement management. Alpha-lipoic acid series products have strong demand overseas, showing a trend of continuous growth. With the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, people's demand for enhancing their resistance has become more intense, predicting a large market space for global health products.
In the health product field, alpha-lipoic acid has irreplaceable strong oxidation ability. In the process of restoring damaged cells, compared with vitamin C and vitamin E, alpha-lipoic acid has more noticeable effects. Additionally, alpha-lipoic acid can also indirectly regenerate antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E and can dissolve coenzyme Q10, effectively enhancing absorption. Compared with other oxidative health products, alpha-lipoic acid has a significant advantage in oxidation ability. According to Yaoshi data, the global market scale of health products containing alpha-lipoic acid and its derivatives was about 377 million USD in 2020.
In the pharmaceutical field, alpha-lipoic acid is used for the prevention and adjuvant treatment of diabetes and its related complications. Currently, alpha-lipoic acid injection has become the unanimously recommended drug for diabetic neuropathy treatment in major authoritative guidelines. From the perspective of global and Chinese diabetic patients, according to statistics, in 2021, there were 540 million adult diabetic patients globally. It is expected that by 2030, the number of global diabetic patients will increase to 643 million, driving the development of the alpha-lipoic acid market due to the huge demand from patients and healthcare providers.
