The contract research organization (CRO) market is anticipated to grow massively by 2028 owing to increasing adoption of advanced technologies for efficient research and development results. Additionally, increasing incidences of chronic diseases, coupled with prevalent trend of outsourcing in clinical trials, is likely to aid CRO market expansion through the forecast period.

Recently, a shift from manual/paperwork data recording towards digitalized data capturing has created massive growth potential for the CRO sector. After the COVID-19 outbreak, many biotechnological and pharmaceutical companies collaborated with CROs for clinical trials and vaccine formations, which fostered contract research organization (CRO) market outlook. Notably, key participants have been focusing on the adoption of fast-track information and communication technology that simplifies clinical tryouts activities, thereby enhancing industry dynamics.

For instance, in March 2022, IQVIA, a leading clinical research services provider, announced that it was selected to support European Medicines Agency (EMA)'s DARWIN initiative, wherein the agency awarded Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam a contract to offer analytics services to the DARWIN EU Coordination Centre. As part of the initiative, IQVIA agreed to offer information management solutions and technical expertise to facilitate regulatory-quality analytics of healthcare information accumulated from across Europe.

Likewise, in August 2021, Syneos Health, a CRO expert, announced a partnership with Aetion, a healthcare tech specialist, to offer regulatory-grade data as well as analytics-driven solutions to accelerate drug development and enhance patient outcomes. The collaboration aimed to generate evidence through curation of patient data and real-world data.

The contract research organization (CRO) market has been categorized based on service type, therapeutic area, end-use, and region. On the basis of service type, the market has been further bifurcated into early phase development services, clinical research services, laboratory services, and regulatory consulting services. The regulatory consulting services sub-segment generated more than USD 6,724.0 million in revenue in 2021 and is projected to register notable growth over 2022-2028.

With respect to therapeutic area, the market has been classified into ophthalmology, infectious disease, clinical pharmacology, neurology, oncology, gastroenterology & hepatology, cardiology, and others. The cardiology sub-segment is estimated to reach a valuation of about USD 2,883.1 million by the end of 2028.

In terms of end-use, the contract research organization (CRO) market has been segregated into medical device companies, academic institutes, and pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies. In 2021, the pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies segment held around 55.5% market share and is slated to witness substantial growth through 2028.

On the regional spectrum, the Latin America contract research organization (CRO) industry accounted for above 4.5% of the global market revenue in 2021 and is estimated to amass significant gains by 2028. Meanwhile, the Middle East & Africa contract research organization (CRO) market is likely to witness robust growth at a rate of approximately 5.5% over the study timeframe.