The increasing R&D investments from pharmaceutical companies and extensive drug pipelines for the treatment of various chronic diseases, such as immunological disorders, metabolic disorders, and neurological disorders, are the predominant growth drivers for the global healthcare contract research organization (CRO) market. Additionally, the increasing outsourcing of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical R&D activities, high failure rate of drug clinical trials, and low cost of conducting clinical trials in emerging countries are also driving the growth of the market. The growing numbers of mergers and acquisitions is a key trend observed in the market. Among the various end-user segments of healthcare CRO, the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies accounted for the largest share in the global market.
CROs provide support and services in form of research facilities outsourced on contract basis to life sciences, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries. The major services offered by CROs include preclinical research, biologic assay development, biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical development, commercialization, clinical trials management, and clinical research. These organizations also provide support to research organizations, academic institutes, and government organizations.
The stringent regulation for the approval of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical drugs is restraining the growth of the global healthcare CRO market. Moreover, the lack of skilled research professionals is also hindering the growth of the market, especially in the developing countries, such as India and China.
North America and Europe are the major markets, due to increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, and improved research infrastructure in these regions. The U.S. followed by Canada, is the largest market for healthcare CRO in North America. Whereas, the U.K., Germany, and France are some of the major countries holding significant share in the European market.
The Asian market is growing with a significant rate, owing to increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, and growing demand of innovative and advanced pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products in the region. In addition, the low R&D costs, and increasing investments by several pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical drugs manufacturing companies are also supporting the growth of the Asian Healthcare CRO market. The countries, such as India, Japan, and China, are the major markets in the region.
Apart from these regions, Latin America is another important market. This is due to improving research infrastructure and growing demand of novel pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical drugs in the region. Brazil holds the largest share in the Latin American market, due to the increasing R&D activities in the country.
Some of the major players operating in the global healthcare CRO market include Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, Quintiles IMS Holdings, Inc., PAREXEL International Corporation, Charles River Laboratories, Inc., Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC, ICON plc, PRA Health Sciences, and inVentiv Health, Inc.
Healthcare CRO Market Segmentation
By Service Type
- Early-phase development services
- Discovery studies
- Chemistry, manufacturing & control (CMC)
- Preclinical services
- Clinical research services
- Phase I clinical research services
- Phase II clinical research services
- Phase III clinical research services
- Phase IV clinical research services
- Laboratory services
- Bioanalytical testing services
- Analytical testing services
- Consulting service
By Therapeutic Area
- Oncology
- Cardiovascular
- Central nervous system (CNS)
- Diabetes
- Respiratory
- Others
By End User
- Pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies
- Medical device companies
- Others
By Geography
- North America
- Europe
- Germany
- France
- U.K.
- Spain
- Italy
- Asia
- Latin America
- Middle East & Africa
