Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Global Industry Analysis: By Drug Class (Hydroxamic acid derivatives, Cyclic peptides, Benzamides) By Application (Oncology, Neurology, Other applications) By Distribution Channel (Hospital Pharmacy, Online Pharmacy, Retail Pharmacy) and Region Forecast 2020-2031

Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Market size was valued at US$ 3.2 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach US$ 5.7 billion by 2031, growing at a significant CAGR of 8.7% from 2025-2031. The market is the worldwide industry committed to the production, manufacturing, and distribution of a class of compounds utilized to suppress histone deacetylase enzymes. The market is driven by the growing global incidence of cancer, interest in epigenetic-targeted therapy, and increasing clinical trials of HDAC inhibitors to treat both oncologic and non-oncologic disease. Advances in molecular biology and increased understanding of gene regulation have also encouraged pharma companies to invest in developing HDAC inhibitors.

Further driving market expansion are favorable regulatory policies and orphan designations for the orphan cancers. However, the market is held back by high development cost, relatively small efficacy in certain populations of patients, potential side effects such as fatigue, nausea, and hematologic toxicity, and competition from other targeted drugs and immunotherapies that may offer greater response rates or fewer toxicities.

Facts & Figures:

• Prostate, lung, and colorectal cancers have an estimated 48% of all cancers in men in 2025. The three most frequent cancers in women include breast, lung, and colorectal, and they will have an estimated 51% of all new cancer diagnoses in women in 2025.
• The incidence rate of new cancer cases (cancer incidence) is 445.8 per 100,000 men and women per year (based on 2018–2022 cases).
• The rate of cancer deaths (cancer mortality) is 145.4 per 100,000 men and women annually (based on 2019–2023 fatalities).
• Men have a higher cancer mortality rate than women (171.5 per 100,000 men and 126.3 per 100,000 women). Cancer mortality, when comparing sex and race/ethnicity groups, is highest for non-Hispanic Black men (203.6 per 100,000) and lowest for non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander women (83.1 per 100,000).

Key Developments:

• In June 2024, Italfarmaco entered into an agreement with Iktos to accelerate the design of non-oncology drugs with the help of AI for developing advanced HDAC inhibitors.
• In April 2024, Chipscreen Bioscience announced approval of its Chidamide (Epidaza), an oral histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor in combination with R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).
• In April 2024, Taizhou EOC Pharma announced to receive NMPA approval for its innovative drug, Entinostat tablets. These tablets, used with an aromatase inhibitor, are for treating patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. The treatment is for those who are hormone receptor (HR) positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) negative, and have already had endocrine therapy.

Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Market Segmentation:

Based on the drug class:

• Hydroxamic acid derivatives
• Cyclic peptides
• Benzamides

Hydroxamic acid derivatives are the dominant drug class segment in the Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors (HDAC Inhibitors) Market. Hydroxamic acid derivatives are extensively researched and used since they exhibit broad-spectrum inhibitory activity against a range of HDAC isoforms, including Class I and II enzymes. They act by sequestering the zinc ion within the catalytic site of HDACs, thereby inhibiting the deacetylating process and restoring gene expression to normal in affected cells. Therapeutic agents in this group, for example, vorinostat (SAHA) and panobinostat, have shown considerable clinical activity, particularly in the therapy of hematologic malignancies such as cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

Hydroxamic acid derivatives are also widely assessed in clinical trials for solid tumors and malignancies. Although effective, such limitations as off-target effects and toxicity are propelling research in more selective and improved-tolerated next-generation molecules. However, their well-documented position in existing therapeutic regimens and ongoing research efforts align hydroxamic acid derivatives as a prevailing and continuously developing segment in the HDAC inhibitor market.

Based on the application:

• Oncology
• Neurology
• Other applications

Oncology has the highest market share in the Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors (HDAC Inhibitors) Market due to the established role of epigenetic aberration in the epigenetics of cancer and cancer progression. HDAC inhibitors find their major applications in the treatment of cancers like T-cell lymphomas, multiple myeloma, and some types of leukemia. Agents such as vorinostat, panobinostat, and romidepsin have been approved by regulators for hematologic malignancy and are being explored in clinical trials against solid tumors including breast, lung, and colon cancer.

Based on the distribution channel:

• Hospital pharmacies
• Retail pharmacies
• E-commerce

The hospital pharmacies sector is the largest contributor in the Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors (HDAC Inhibitors) Market, largely because of the specialty nature of HDAC inhibitor drugs and the requirement for vigilant medical monitoring throughout treatment. These medications tend to be delivered in the hospital environment, particularly for chemotherapy or combination therapy regimens of cancer patients that need to monitor for adverse events like hematologic toxicity or cardiac events. Hospital pharmacies provide safe handling, storage, and dispensing of these high-risk and high-expense drugs, as well as enable timely access in the course of inpatient treatments. Hospitals are also usually the major sites for clinical trials and administration of newly approved HDAC inhibitors