Pharmaceutical Contract Sales Market will grow by 7% in 2014

Wednesday 2 April 2014, Amsterdam

A new report predicts the world market for contract sales of medicines will expand by 7% in 2014. That trend follows growth of 5% in 2013. The study forecasts high single-digit growth for that overall market until 2017.

Those predictions and others appear in World Pharma Contract Sales Industry and Market: Predictions 2014-2024, published in February 2014.

That new data finds contract detailing - face-to-face promotion services - accounted for the largest proportion of pharma contract service organisation (CSO) revenues in 2012 and 2013. That market will grow with a CAGR of more than 7% between 2012 and 2024. However, faster growth will come from other marketing channels and services. CSOs report rapidly rising demand for inside sales teams and contact centre services. All major pharma companies now use edetailing for drug promotion in certain markets, and CSOs invest in online platforms. Revenues achieved by CSOs for edetailing services will rise by more than 15% in 2014.

Richard Lang, a pharma market analyst, said: “Limited access to doctors, the rising influence of healthcare payers and challenges in market access are driving significant changes to pharma sales models worldwide. CSOs offering multichannel marketing, market access and patient support services will benefit most in this decade.

“Analysis of new services provided by CSOs offers insight into where the pharma contract sales market is heading. Investment in patient adherence and support and market access services is rising rapidly. The costs of non-adherence are putting increasing strain on healthcare budgets worldwide. For small drug developers, as well as Big Pharma companies, CSOs can help navigate the challenging requirements for acceptance on national, regional and hospital-level formularies.”

The new report predicts revenues of the world pharma contract sales market to 2024, as well as providing forecasts and other analyses for its submarkets:

Contract detailing services

• Contract non-personal promotion services, including the subsectors of teledetailing and edetailing
• Contract medical education services
• Contract sample management services.

The new investigation also explores uses of CSOs for three leading medical classes. No therapeutic field accounted for more than 20% of revenues for CSOs in 2013. Further patent expiries from 2014 to 2024 will restrain growth in primary care submarkets to 2024, and development of new cancer therapies will stimulate revenue growth. In 2024 metabolic disorders will form the largest sector of the pharma contract sales market, driven by the launch of new - and biosimilar - insulin therapies, as well as oral anti-diabetes drugs and anti-obesity treatments.

The new report also analyses the regional breakdown of pharma contract sales revenues, discussing regulatory and commercial trends and forecasting revenues for leading and emerging national markets. The US and EU accounted for more than three quarters of CSO revenues in 2012 - levels of outsourcing are highest among the leading Western European markets, where contract sales reps account for up to 20% of total pharma sales employees. Outsourcing is less common in Japan and emerging countries - such as the BRIC nations - although these markets will grow fastest in the first half of the forecast period. The market shares of China and India will more than double by 2024. Outsourcing will provide local expertise in market access and sales models in emerging markets.

That study provides quantitative and qualitative analyses of the contract sales market for prescription drugs for the period 2014 to 2024. It also contains research interviews conducted with authorities from leading US- and UK-based contract service providers.

World Pharma Contract Sales Industry and Market: Predictions 2014-2024 adds to the portfolio of business analysis on healthcare outsourcing industries.