Clinical trials market to grow 11% through next decade; India to gain most

Clinical trials market reached $50bn in 2008, despite recession fears, says a new report.

Indian CROs stand to gain in the coming years as the clinical trials market is expected to record a double-digit growth over the next decade propelled by increasing outsourcing by drug developing companies.

Clinical trials market reached $50bn in 2008, despite recession fears, says a new report

Indian CROs stand to gain in the coming years as the clinical trials market is expected to record a double-digit growth over the next decade propelled by increasing outsourcing by drug developing companies.

Clinical trials market the world over is expecting a stronger growth in the coming years despite recession fears hitting across all sections of the industry.

Clinical research organisations (CROs) are poised to grow 11 percent a year through 2018 as outsourcing continues to rise, according to a report from Visiongain- a research group.

The report gives a new lifeline for the CROs industry which has been taking a hit in their bottomlines following several drug developing companies cut budget on clinical trials as part of their austerity measures.

Since the latter half of 2008, as the economic downturn hit the industry, pharmaceutical manufacturers have been conserving resources and carefully selecting which new compounds to place into clinical development.

Now CROs can look forward to strong growth for, at least, next ten years, driven primarily by the drug developing companies’ increased efforts to cut down costs, the report suggest.

The clinical trial market hit $50 billion last year.

Outsourcing continues to rise with a growth rate ranging from 10 to 20 percent as pharmaceutical companies currently spend approximately 30 percent of their total R&D budget on outsourcing, according to a report in Pharmafocus.

Growth of the clinical trial industry would include utilizing CROs from fast-emerging markets such as India and China.

Of late, there has been a spurt in outsourced clinical services in both the West and in developing nations, most notably India and China.

India and China become highly attractive propositions for drug developers not only because outsourcing clinical trials to these countries are cheaper but also an appreciation of their potential as emerging pharmaceutical markets.

Of late, India has emerged as a hot destination for clinical trials in recent times. Due to the multitude of benefits it offers, the country is fast growing as a centre for conducting clinical trials for many international companies.

Indian clinical trials market is expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 36% between 2006 and 2011 to register revenues worth US$ 546 Million in future, according to a report by RNCOS.

India has huge patient base, low cost advantage, completion of clinical trials on time, improving infrastructure, and with a strong government support . At present Indian CROs are witnessing a double digit growth in its clinical trials market. All major pharmaceutical companies and Clinical Research Organizations (CROs) have already started conducting their clinical trials in India, and with improving infrastructure, industry friendly regulations and trained workforce, the growth is only likely to increase in future.
One of the biggest advantages of conducting clinical trials in India is the availability of a large patient pool that can be recruited at much shorter time then it takes to recruit patients in the west.

India by 2011 will be conducting more than 15% of the total global clinical trials.

India presently lacks in GCP trained investigators (which are less than 1000). Their demand is projected to reach between 3000 and 6000 by 2010.
However, to achieve its goal of becoming a global hub of clinical trials, the country will have to overcome challenges like unethical trials, delay in trial approval, inappropriate protection of clinical data, and lack of Good Clinical Practice (GCP ) certified sites and investigators, noted the report.

Unlike the developed US and UK markets, India does not provide data protection for the data submitted to the regulator for obtaining clinical studies/ marketing approval from unfair commercial uses.

The salaries of a clinical data specialist and Medical writer in India are around 15% and 9% respectively of what they get in the US.

China is currently ranked as the 9th largest single country in terms of pharmaceutical sales and is predicted to go up to 8th position within the next few years.