The clinical trials and research outsourcing (CRO) market is growing, leveraging the global pharmaceutical industry’s urgent need to succeed in late clinical trials and build the pipeline of new molecules, a growth partnership company that analyses the market Frost & Sullivan said.
While cost benefits, focus on core competencies, rise in innovative therapeutic options, and increased drug efficacy and safety norms will continue to encourage global pharma companies to outsource, CROs must increase their range of services to better serve, and become the preferred partner to, bio-pharmaceutical companies.
“Expanding CRO services into early stages of drugs, emergence of virtual biotech, out-licensing, and risk sharing between pharma and CROs are disrupting traditional business models,” Frost & Sullivan quoted Transformational Health Research Analyst Sanjeev Kumar as saying. “They are also opening up greater opportunities for CROs in terms of access to a huge market, newer areas such as commercial and post-launch, bioanalytical testing and development services, and partnerships with small-to-midsize biotech and virtual pharma customers,” Kumar said to Frost & Sullivan.
Pharmaceutical tablets and capsules are arranged in the shape of a Euro currency sign on a table in this picture illustration, August 20, 2014. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic/Illustration/File Photo
According to the research by Frost & Sullivan, global CRO Market will reach revenues of $64.58 billion by 2021. The study is an overview and analysis of the global CRO market by phase, therapeutic type, and region. It also profiles some of the game changers in the market, including SGS Life Sciences with its wide range of analytical, bioanalytical and clinical trial testing services and process management capabilities; LabCorp-Covance with its leading-edge clinical laboratory testing services; and WuXi AppTec, an integrated clinical trials company providing leading open-access R&D capability.
“Globalization of trials, which is a prerequisite for drug development, continues to bolster pharma company outsourcing of research and drug clinical testing to CROs with a global presence, instead of employing their in-house R&D resources,” said Kumar. “Offering specialized research technologies for drug development will help CROs compete against in-house R&D services.”
“The volume of outsourcing to emerging markets is expected to increase significantly, even as North America retains a large portion of the high-value business,” added Kumar. “While lower-cost locations present lesser margins in the short term, this will be offset by the increased volume share. Expanding capacity and scale will help CROs improve their margins in the near future.”