CROs are facing an increasingly competitive landscape. Leveraging their relatively low-cost structures and many potential patients for clinical trials, new incumbents from far east are entering the market; Western customers are rethinking their R&D spend, threatening trials cancellation or asking for cheaper, faster results while putting more emphasis on accurate costs estimation; Small pharma and biopharma companies represent an emerging market, that can be captured by those who can deliver quick and cheap analysis.
The industry agrees that digitalization is the way to win this challenge and thrive on the market. Among the most promising technologies, FDA and EMA and other regulators are recommending the use of in silico trials to speed up the development and registration of new drugs and medical devices.
Implementing these technologies requires high investments in software, IT and above all in new skills that are very difficult to find.