A new market research report “Clinical Trials Market by Phase (Phase I, II, III), Service Type (Site Identification, Laboratory Services, Decentralised Clinical Trial), Therapy Area (Oncology, Infectious Disease), and Application (Vaccines, Cell and Gene Therapy) – Global Forecast to 2026,” published by MarketsandMarkets, has revealed that the global market of clinical trial is projected to reach $52 billion by 2026 from $38.7 billion in 2021, at a CAGR of 6.1 per cent during the forecast period.
The factors such as growing R&D expenditure, increasing outsourcing of R&D activities and the rising number of clinical trials worldwide are driving the growth of the global clinical trial market. The growing biosimilars and biologics market, rising demand for specialised testing services, and emerging Asian markets also offer significant growth opportunities for players operating in the market. However, a shortage of skilled professionals may challenge the market’s growth to a certain extent, added the report.
Based on phase, the market is segmented into phases I, II, III and IV. Phase-III dominated the market in 2020. Services that incur high expenses and large patient/population size are the key factors attributing to the high share of the phase-III segment, the report further said.
It informed that based on service types, the market is segmented into protocol designing, site identification, patient recruitment, laboratory services, bioanalytical testing, analytical testing, clinical trial supply and logistic services, decentralised clinical services, clinical trial data management services, medical device testing services and other services. Laboratory services is the leading segment of clinical trial services market, this can be attributed to the increasing preference of clinical research professionals to outsource such services. Among all the aspects of conducting clinical trials (such as protocol designing, site identification and patient recruitment, among others), laboratory services have witnessed comparatively high outsourcing rates in the past few years, thus contributing to the growth of this segment.
Based on the therapy area, the clinical trial market is segmented into oncology, infectious diseases, cardiology, neurology, women’s health, genetic diseases, immunology and other therapeutic areas. The large share of oncology segment is primarily attributed to the increasing number of drug discovery activities for oncology and the rising prevalence of cancer worldwide, the report said.
The market is segmented into small molecules, vaccines, cell and gene therapy, and others based on application. Small molecules is the key driver of the clinical trials application market. Regardless of the synthetic method and materials used, small molecules are able to retain their chemical identity as opposed to sensitive biologics candidates, which has contributed to the robust demand for small molecule drug candidates. The majority of the patented drugs marketed in the past five years have been small molecules and generics of these patented drugs, concluded the statement.