Contract Research Organization Market - By Service Type (Early Phase Development, Clinical Research, Laboratory, Regulatory Consulting), By Therapeutic Area (Oncology, Clinical Pharmacology, Cardiology, Infectious Disease, Neurology), End-use - Forecast to 2032

Contract Research Organization Market Size

Contract Research Organization Market size accounted for USD 56.7 billion in 2022 and is estimated to grow at 6.9% CAGR between 2023 and 2032. Rising adoption of advanced technologies for efficient R&D outcomes and the increasing outsourcing trends in the clinical trials industry has largely influenced the global market growth.
 

The significant shift from maintaining manual/paper-based records to digital data capture technologies is largely transforming and propelling the market growth. Moreover, the advent of COVID-19 has largely triggered the adoption of digital resources across clinical trials enhancing the quality of data while allowing greater flexibility. Furthermore, digital technologies can transform the companies’ approach towards clinical development by incorporating valuable insights from multiple sources and increasing the volume of data collected in trials enhancing clinical trial productivity, thereby fuelling the market expansion.
 

Contract research organization, also known as clinical research organization, is a company that assists in managing complex clinical research & trial responsibilities, clinical development & commercialization of new products for sponsor companies and drug discovery primarily in the biotechnology, medical device and pharmaceutical industries. These organizations offer services such as clinical trial management, preclinical research, clinical research, commercialization, and pharmacovigilance among other research services. These are outsourced on contract basis, also known as fee-for-service basis.

Increasing R&D expenditure worldwide will spur the CROs industry growth

Increasing burden of chronic diseases worldwide is expected to propel the contract research organization market growth over the forecast period. Sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy eating habits, consumption of tobacco and smoking are some of the prominent factors contributing to the increasing burden of chronic diseases. Furthermore, the emergence of COVID-19 and Ebola pandemic has further increased the R&D expenditure worldwide. Additionally, the focus on developing novel drugs to meet the unmet medical requirements are amongst the key value drivers of research-based pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies. The pharmaceutical sector develops several novel drugs that offer valuable clinical benefits. The surging number of investments by government as well as private organizations are amongst the prime variables driving the number of pharmaceutical research and development activities, thereby propelling the market demand.
 

Intellectual property issues may hamper the contract research organization market statistics

Intellectual property issues are one of the major concerns faced in outsourcing clinical trials that may potentially slow down the contract research organization industry growth. Most of the medical devices and drug candidates are patented products and outsourcing the same to a contract research organization may increase the chances of data leakages. Furthermore, pharmaceutical companies that develop novel solutions are obligatory to submit clinical data concerning safety and efficacy to respective government and regulatory authorities to get the approval of such drugs. Hence, issues concerning the patent along with the provisions for pre- and post-grant disagreement are quite burdensome. However, it improves the efficiency of scrutiny and has assisted to revoke patents. It is necessary to focus more on the clinical trial agreements as the government also closely inspects the issues concerning clinical trials. However, such issues hamper the CRO’s reputation and may possibly hinder the CRO market growth.

Contract Research Organization Market Analysis

Based on service type, the contract research organization market is segmented into early phase development services, clinical research services, laboratory services and regulatory consulting services. The clinical research services segment is expected to reach USD 63.55 billion by 2032. The clinical research services are further sub segmented into Phase I, Phase II, Phase III, Phase IV. The segmental growth is attributed to the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and increasing demand for effective medications and diagnostics products. Furthermore, various contract research organizations offer wide range of clinical trial research services and support different areas of medical device and drug development.
 

Based on therapeutic area, the contract research organization market is bifurcated into oncology, clinical pharmacology, cardiology, infectious disease, neurology, gastroenterology & hepatology, ophthalmology and others. Oncology segment contributed USD 30.85 billion revenue in 2022. Increasing prevalence of cancer has compelled sponsors to focus on developing different therapies and medical devices for better management of cancer. Hence, leading to an increased number of clinical trials and discovery of various drugs for the cancer treatment.