Medical Discoveries are Contracted Out as Research Organizations Move Abroad

Thursday 19 July 2012, Amsterdam

Medical devices companies are outsourcing more and more of their research and development processes, reducing costs and time by conducting overseas trials, according to the new Medical Devices Contract Research Organizations - Global Opportunity Assessment, Competitive Landscape and Market Forecasts to 2018 report.

According to the new report, contract research organisations (CROs) are becoming increasingly popular with medical device companies keen to improve their financial and operational efficiency, as increasingly complex clinical trials are needed to meet the approval of regulatory bodies.

The US accounts for around half of the global medical devices CRO market, valued at $1.6 bn in 2011 with growth expected to take this up to $3.4 bn by 2018. The US dominates this market due to its favorable conditions for clinical research and the region’s huge medical devices market, which fuels demand for CROs.

Most major industry players are based in the US, but have operations based all around the world. However, costcontainment pressures in the US have resulted in increasing outsourcing of clinical trials to overseas locations, leading to a boom in clinical activities in emerging regions such as India, China, Eastern Europe and Latin American countries.

A recent increase in the number of regional CROs, especially in the emerging markets of India and China, is due in part to the unique advantage of low-cost and regional regulatory expertise. Emerging economies within the Asia-Pacific region offer lucrative benefits such as easy access to patients and high patient retention rates which far outweigh the challenges involved in entering the market to conduct clinical trials. The increasing acceptance of such
data from regulatory authorities in the US and Europe looks to encourage the CRO market in Asia over the coming years.

However, India, China and Brazil still struggle to offer positive regulatory experiences, and intellectual property (IP) protection is a major concern for CROs and medical device companies operating here. Issues such as regulatory approval policies are therefore being tackled by the governments of these countries, who are eager to welcome business from multinational medical corporations.

The global medical devices CRO market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12.5% over the period 2011-2018, with revenue growing from $3.2 bn in 2011 to $7.4 bn by 2018.

The report provides key data, information and analysis on the global medical devices contract research organizations (CRO) market. It gives the market landscape, competitive landscape and market trends information for the medical devices CRO market, and provides comprehensive information on the key trends affecting the market, as well as key analytical content. The report also reviews the competitive landscape and technology offerings.

This report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis by a team of industry experts.