asia pacific healthcare contract research organizations (cro) services Market

The Asia Pacific healthcare contract research organizations (CRO) services market is expected to reach US$ 16,745.94 million by 2027 from US$ 7,559.03 million in 2019. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 10.6% during 2020–2027.

The growth of the healthcare contract research organizations (CRO) services market is primarily attributed to the growing number of clinical trials as well as increasing expenditure in R&D and outsourcing activities in the Asia Pacific region. Factors such as dearth of skilled professional hamper the growth of the market. Additionally, rising biosimilars and biologics market and advancement of technology in research field are likely to fuel the growth of the healthcare contract research organizations (CRO) services market during the forecast period.   

Contract research organization (CRO) provides support services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies throughout the development of the product. Pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies and the medical device industry require various testing services such as preclinical services, clinical research services, analytical testing services, bio analytical testing services, and regulatory services. CROs are specifically designed to perform these testing services to reduce the in-house cost and time of the companies, required to conduct the extensive range of testing services to comply with the national and international regulatory standards.

Biotherapeutics is the fastest-growing segment in the pharmaceutical industry. The efficacy and safety of biotherapeutics associated with the ability to treat various untreatable diseases is majorly driving the growth of the biosimilars and biologics. Technological advancement and significant improvement in the understanding of diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis are creating a demand for the development of biosimilars and biologics. Pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies are investing heavily in the R&D activities to develop innovative and advanced biological molecules. Companies are capitalizing on their expertise in biologics manufacturing to generate more revenue by fulfilling the unmet conditions. In recent years, there has been an increase in the biologics license application (BLA).

The Asia Pacific regions are important locations for the development of biosimilars. Biologics are large complex molecules, up to 1,000 times the size of small molecule generic drugs. To save the in-house cost and time required for these testing services throughout the development process of the biologics and biosimilars in the initial stages, the companies prefer to outsource these services to the pre-clinical CROs. This is expected to be a potential opportunity for the growth of the pre-clinical CROs in the coming years.

Asia Pacific countries are estimated to witness massive challenges due to increasing COVID-19. Prohibitory measures have been taken to control the spread of this pandemic. However, in this measure, hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centers, and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are not taking general patient on priority. Apart from the overall health system, healthcare contract research organizations (CRO) services have been facing challenges due to COVID-19 outbreak. Thus, such cancellation of studies is likely to negatively affect the growth of the market.

Based on service type, the healthcare contract research organizations (CRO) services market is  segmented into early phase development, laboratory services, consulting services, and clinical research services. The early phase development segment is further categorized into discovery studies, chemistry, marketing & manufacturing, and preclinical market. The laboratory services segment is further sub segmented as bio-analytical testing and analytical testing. The clinical research services segment is further divided into phase I, phase II, phase III, and phase IV. In 2019, the clinical research segment accounted for the largest share of the market. Growth of this segment is attributed to the increasing clinical trials and growing R&D investment.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering, the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), National Cancer Registry Programme of the India Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) are among the significant secondary sources associated with the Asia Pacific healthcare contract research organizations (CRO) services market report.