Analytical Instrument Companies See Opportunity in the CRO Market
The companies that manufacture the analytical instruments used in drug discovery and development are eyeing a market opportunity in the Contract Research Organization (CRO) industry. According to our latest report, the rush to develop new therapeutics in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a flurry of activity in the pharma/bio sector, even as many other R&D activities have been disrupted. With a safe and effective vaccine still at least a year away, researchers are developing new drugs using a range of therapeutic modalities, and looking back to existing drugs, which may be repurposed for treating COVID-19. These unprecedented times have spotlighted the importance of collaborative partnerships for drug discovery.
Over 70 vaccine and therapeutic candidates are in development around the world, with at least five already undergoing clinical testing. Over the past decade, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have grown increasingly reliant on partnerships with Contract Research Organizations (CRO), as labs operations within the industries become leaner and the number of drugs within company pipelines grows. CROs have grown to become integral participants at all stages of drug development, providing critical services and expertise from target selection to clinical trial administration, and are important partners in regulatory compliance, validation, and gaining product approval. This has created opportunities for CROs and the analytical instrumentation vendors that supply them. Given the nature of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, significantly increased demand is being generated for certain technologies, including PCR, multiplex thigh-throughput ELISA, and automated synthesizers. However, these gains are severely offset by the disruption of most other R&D activities, negatively impacting demand for other analytical instrumentation technologies. The severity of this impact varies greatly, and will linger as the global economy suffers through a likely recession.
To help the many suppliers that provide the laboratory instrumentation to CRO customers understand and sail through these uncharted waters, SDi has published its CRO Market Opportunity Report, released at the end of April 2020. The report comprehensively examines 53 techniques, grouped into 8 technological categories, that are used routinely by CRO laboratories. For these techniques, the report provides market sizes, segmentations, and five-year projections by technique, region, function, and application, within the context of the current global health crisis and anticipated economic recession conditions. The report further examines the competitive landscape faced by vendors, current opportunities and threats, and global CRO trends by region.
