Frost & Sullivan: Key Therapeutic Areas to Remain Strongest Drivers of CRO Revenue Growth in the Uni...(and country. The most interes...),Health

"The most interesting aspect of CRO market growth has been that of new sponsors - increasingly biotechnology companies and specialty pharmaceutical companies - with a demand for full services spanning the pre-clinical to the post-commercialization stage," says Frost & Sullivan Senior Industry Analyst Barath Shankar Subramanian. "This could be attributed to the limited development infrastructure with sponsors, leading to CROs being viewed as strategic partners."

Earlier, the trend in the market used to be start-up pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies out-licensing their product beyond phase I/II or getting acquired, which posed a great deal of uncertainty over the future of the project. Nowadays, companies are increasingly retaining products within their pipeline and continuing to take them closer to the market through CROs, thereby enhancing the value of the products and the company.

Despite optimistic forecasts for the market, a growing divide between patient access and studies is threatening productivity. Trials continue to become increasingly complex and global, resulting in intense competition for access to patients, new investigators, and innovative studies.

The divide between patient access and studies has been rising consistently over the past decade and could affect future studies. For studies that depend heavily on the emerging markets, this could have a negative impact on productivity by lengthening trial times. In addition, an underlying churn in existing investigators is further widening this divide.

"CROs and sponsors are looking at innovative ways to increase access to patients by partnering with patient recruitment firms," concludes Subramanian. "Service providers are also outsourcing large-scale global trials through the expanded reach of CRO partners, enabling access to an extensive patient pool."

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