Global Decentralized Clinical Trials Growth Opportunities

Global Decentralized Clinical Trials Growth Opportunities


Strong Competitive Intensity is Advancing DCT Initiatives Across the World Paving Way for a Partnership-based Growth Model

The global decentralized clinical trial (DCT) market has been witnessing a continued surge after the COVID-19 pandemic. The accelerated DCT adoption in 2020 was driven by restricted mobility of site investigators, clinical research associates, and patients to participate in trials, which resulted in a significant halt in trial activities worldwide. To ensure patient safety and continuity in the R&D activities, most sponsors and contract research organizations (CROs) adopted digital tools to support trial operations, including telemedicine, remote source data verification, and sensor/mobile technology-enabled direct data-capture solutions.

Regulatory agencies around the world are coming up with initiatives and guidelines for large-scale adoption of DCT modalities, alongside existing alliances, such as Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance (DTRA), that work toward increasing DCT awareness, propelling remote trial uptake.

North America continues to lead the DCT market owing to a strong presence of DCT vendors, CROs, and pharma sponsors in the region, followed closely by Europe, which has abundant infrastructure for large-scale DCT uptake. Nevertheless, Asia-Pacific is emerging as a crucial region with several leading global CROs establishing strong bases due to patient diversity, treatment-naive population, and significant cost advantage. In addition, there is a growing reliance on telemedicine and ePharmacy solutions in the region, which will propel DCT uptake in 3 to 5 years. In the Rest of World region, the Middle East is gearing up for greater remote trial adoption, with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Dubai at the forefront. Several tech vendors, such as Oracle and AWS, have set up bases in the region to allow the uptake of eClinical solutions, promoting growth. However, at present, the market will have comparatively slower growth than other regions.

There will be a constant need to support decentralized trials through cloud-based platform solutions that are fit to purpose. Therefore, CROs are building decentralized trial capabilities by partnering with technology vendors. In addition, online training modules for patients and secure technology for at-home trial monitoring through devices, chatbots, and sensors have been driving the adoption of decentralized trials after the pandemic.

Home health services for patients with physical disabilities and restricted access due to location can promote retention in clinical trials. Partnering with home health service providers supported by nurses trained in portable equipment usage will facilitate smooth DCT implementation. In addition, CROs are focused on innovating trial enrollment and patient engagement strategies by exploring multiple channels, such as the use of advocacy groups, social media, and online physician referral systems, as well as implementing AI-enabled platforms, expanding the DCT ecosystem.


  • Strategic Imperatives
    • Why Is It Increasingly Difficult to Grow?
    • The Strategic Imperative 8™
    • The Impact of the Top 3 Strategic Imperatives on the Decentralized Clinical Trial (DCT) Industry
    • Growth Opportunities Fuel the Growth Pipeline Engine™
  • Growth Opportunity Analysis: Decentralized Clinical Trial Market
    • Scope of Analysis
    • Decentralized Clinical Trials Market Segmentation
    • Growth Metrics
    • Comparison of Traditional and Decentralized Clinical Trials
    • DCT Value Proposition: Achieving Patient Centricity
    • Decentralized Clinical Trials: Pharma Ecosystem
    • Decentralized Clinical Trials: Patient Ecosystem
  • Market Snapshot
    • Market Trend Analysis
    • Evolving DCT Landscape
    • Global DCT Initiatives and Guidelines
    • Implications of DCT Initiatives on the Global DCT Market
    • Implications of DCT Initiatives on Individual Stakeholders
    • Growth Drivers
    • Growth Restraints
    • DCT: Evolving Vendor Ecosystem
  • Business Model Trends
    • Business Model Trend: Global DCT Market
    • Partnership Trends Driving DCT Business Models
    • Strategic Partnerships in DCT Market
  • Expanding Capabilities with M&As and Platform/Product Launches
    • Key Mergers and Acquisitions
    • New Platform Launches
  • Growth Opportunity Analysis: Revenue Forecast Analysis, Global
    • Forecast Assumptions
    • Revenue Forecast: Global
    • Revenue Forecast Analysis
    • Revenue Forecast by Phases of Clinical Development
      • Table DCT Market: Revenue Forecast by Phase of Clinical Development, Global, 2020-2028
    • Revenue Percentage by Phase of Development
      • Table DCT Market: Revenue Percentage by Phase of Development, Global, 2020-2028
    • Revenue Forecast by Clinical Development Phases
    • Revenue Share Analysis by Therapy Areas
  • Growth Opportunity Analysis: Revenue Forecast Analysis, By Regions
    • Revenue Forecast by Regions
      • Table DCT Market: Revenue Forecast by Region, Global, 2020-2028
    • Revenue Forecast Analysis by Region: DCT Market
    • Revenue Forecast Analysis: North America
    • Revenue Forecast Analysis: Europe
    • Revenue Forecast Analysis: Asia-Pacific (APAC)
    • Revenue Forecast Analysis: Rest of World (RoW)
  • Competitive Environment
    • Competitor Benchmarking: Pure-play DCT Vendors
    • Competitor Benchmarking: CROs (Enablers/DCT Vendors)
    • Competitor Benchmarking: DCT Enablers
    • Competitor Assessment
  • Growth Opportunity Universe
    • Growth Opportunity 1: Endpoint Assessment with Digital Biomarkers
    • Growth Opportunity 2: Digital Health Technology (DHT)-enabled Focus on Oncology Trials
    • Growth Opportunity 3: Adopting Partnership-based Approaches for Scaling DCT Capabilities
  • Next Steps
    • Your Next Steps
    • Why Frost, Why Now?

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