Demand for outsourced trials soared in 2022 and DCTs make impact

Drug industry spending was almost $50 billion last year according to new analysis, which also suggests larger CROs increased their market share.

The report – by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development – looked at trends in outsourced drug testing over the 12 months to the end of December.

And the key finding was that the top ten largest clinical research organizations (CROs) will generate around $34 million in clinical services revenue in 2022, which is roughly 70% of the total spent on clinical trials around the world.

The trend continues the trajectory seen between 2020 and 2021 when, according to Tufts, the top 10 largest CROs saw revenues grow 17% a year on average.

Private mid-sized and smaller CROs are expected to generate around $15 billion in revenue in 2022 according to the Tufts researchers.

Last year also saw many CROs increase their staffing levels in response to higher demand. According to the Tufts authors, on average, the top 10 CROs saw the number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) – business jargon for an employed person – on their books climb 12%.

DCT impact

In separate analysis, Tufts researchers also looked at the impact decentralized models are having on the clinical research market. And the key finding is that remote methodologies can save drug developers $20 million per product.

According to the authors “applying DCT methods in Phase II clinical trials results in an increase in value of $8.6 million on average, per investigational drug or nearly a five-fold return on investment.”
And the “increase in value” – the ability to generate higher revenues as a result of the study being completed faster and more efficiently through the use of remote technology – is even higher for later phase studies.

“In a portfolio of Phase III drugs, DCT methods increase value by $41 million per drug with a 13-fold ROI,” the Tufts authors wrote, adding “reductions in cycle time, measured from the start of one phase to the start of the next have the greatest impact on value in both Phase II and Phase III trials.”

Unsplash/hjwinunsplsh