Post-COVID-19 Trends Disrupt the Global Contract Research Organization (CRO) Market

Frost & Sullivan presents post-COVID-19 growth opportunities and strategic imperatives in the contract research organization (CRO) market, covering the market’s maturity, key participants, competitive landscape, and recent mergers and acquisitions. The study highlights key growth drivers and restraints, identifies initiatives by major global CROs, and estimates growth patterns for the next five years based on detailed analyses of drug and biologics interventional trials, outsourcing penetration rates, and cost variations. It further provides insights into the driving influences and challenges across regions and clinical development phases.

The plateaued CRO market experienced a sudden growth in 2020 due to the surge in research and development (R&D) efforts related to COVID-19 therapies and vaccines. The CRO market, fragmented with more than 1,000 participants, has two broad segments: nonclinical, which includes drug discovery and preclinical services, and clinical. Recent big acquisitions in the market may indicate a trend of future mergers or partnerships with integrated e-clinical platform providers as global CROs focus on building capabilities in innovative patient-centric clinical trial delivery models. Decentralized clinical trials (DCTs), while still at a nascent stage, are enabling newer participants to enter the clinical trial industry. Recent initiatives by the Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance to bring together industry participants, including CROs, pharma/biotech sponsors, and technology vendors, have increased awareness of DCTs globally and catapulted their adoption especially in North America. To adapt to DCTs, sponsors will increasingly rely on CROs to expedite the implementation of telemedicine components and remote monitoring solutions in clinical research due to inconsistencies in laws and regulations across the globe.

The rising need to maximize R&D productivity and global penetration has led to an increase in multicountry trial registrations by pharma/biotech sponsors. Several small biotech companies that support the development of therapies for rare/orphan diseases and biosimilars for chronic diseases are contributing to the CRO market growth. The continuous expansion in personalized medicine and cell and gene therapies, potency and biomarker assay complexities, and the need for adaptive trial designs is increasing outsourcing penetration to CROs. However, the shortage of skilled workforce with knowledge of the dynamic regulatory requirements to support complex therapies development can hinder the CRO market growth.

Patient-centric solutions and data-driven portfolios are fueling the adoption of functional service provider (FSP) models, even among small and midsize pharma companies. FSP partnerships enable them to rapidly scale their workforce to match business demand and distribute risk across programs or portfolios. Asia-Pacific customers are increasingly using outsourcing and insourcing FSP models in their partnerships to enhance traditional working models, resulting in greater value sharing, support, and access to expertise. Lastly, the need to develop highly efficacious therapies through innovation has boosted the growth of drug-device combination therapies, leading to more partnerships between medtech participants, CROs, and pharma companies for clinical development programs.

Author: Meghna Hiren Thakkar