Growth Opportunities in Drug Discovery and Early Development Outsourcing Services

Growth Opportunities in Drug Discovery and Early Development Outsourcing Services


M&As, Partnerships, and the Shift Toward an End-to-end CRDMO Model will Boost Sector Expansion

The global pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) pipeline accounts for more than 21,000 molecules, as of April 2023, indicating a 5.8% hike over 2022, with more than 6,100 molecules in active development. In general, however, the pharma/biopharma industry has stagnated with respect to R&D activity. Overall R&D expenditure totals about $276.81 billion, with slow 2.5% growth between 2023 to 2024. Decline in the year-on-year growth rate is the result of a shift in focus from COVID-19 therapies to more mainstream therapies across oncology, neurology, respiratory, and many more conditions, which is resulting in overall market normalization with respect to growth rates. Furthermore, the industry witnessed a decline in the average return on investment (ROI) for R&D to as low as 1.2%, and the peak sales per asset valued just above $350 million, indicating a need to build more efficient drug development processes with the implementation of newer technologies.

Of total R&D expenditure, the top 10 pharma companies accounted for just 4% to 5% of the pipeline, while the top 25 contributed to less than 10%. In contrast, small-to-mid segment and emerging biopharma players (companies with 1 or 2 molecules in the pipeline) are the major contributors, accounting for more than 16% of the active pipeline. As a result, the demand for outsourcing activities is on the rise globally, with contract research organizations (CROs) and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) contributing to the strong industry growth.

Moreover, advancements in multiple emerging biotechnology platforms (e.g., RNA technology, protein degradation [PROTAC], and antibody engineering technologies) coupled with the application of digital health technologies in the form of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are supporting unprecedented innovation, ascertaining increased success of a molecule. This activity is improving the partnership landscape across the global drug discovery and preclinical development industry.

Overall, the sector is witnessing an emergence of specialized lab testing and bioanalytical CROs. With techniques such as next-generation sequencing (NGS), high throughput screening (HTS), and many more crucial to drug development, a steady rise in CRO and central lab partnerships is underway. To add to this, several specialized bioinformatics CROs are emerging and creating greater partnership opportunities. Last, the larger CROs have developed separate lab testing divisions that allow them to focus on specific drug discovery and preclinical development testing services.

Moving forward, CROs/CDMOs will likely focus on targeted scale up of preclinical capabilities through cross-industry partnerships and academic partnerships, ascertaining knowledge transfer to pharma companies through out-licensing opportunities, thereby supporting greater innovation while transitioning from a vendor-ship to partnership model.


  • Strategic Imperatives
    • Why is it Increasingly Difficult to Grow?
    • The Strategic Imperative 8
    • The Impact of the Top 3 Strategic Imperatives on the Drug Discovery and Early Development Outsourcing Industry
    • Growth Opportunities Fuel the Growth Pipeline Engine
  • Growth Opportunity Analysis
    • Scope of Analysis
    • Phases of Drug Discovery and Early Development
    • Market Segmentation
    • Key Competitors by Region
    • Key Competitors by Type of Service
    • Drug Discovery and Early Development Services
    • Key Industry Trend Analysis
    • Digitization of the Drug Development Value Chain
    • Computer-aided Drug Discovery and Preclinical Research
    • Growth Metrics
    • Growth Drivers
    • Growth Restraints
  • Evolving Vendor Ecosystem and Emerging Business Models
    • Drug Discovery and Preclinical Development-Evolving Vendor Ecosystem
    • CRDMOs-The New Go-to Partners for Pharma Innovation
    • Academia-Bridging the Research Gap in Pharma Innovation
    • Evolution of Academic Research
    • CROs Paving Way for Efficient Technology Transfer
  • Investment Trends
    • Early-stage CRO/CDMO Service Collaboration-Nonclinical
    • Expanding Non-clinical Expertise through Industry Acquisitions
    • Scale Up through Funding and In-house Investments
  • Revenue Forecast
    • Pharma R&D Expenditure
    • Pharmaceutical R&D Landscape
    • R&D Mapping by Therapy Area and Stakeholder Type
    • R&D Pipeline Assessment by Therapy Area and Stakeholder Type
    • Nuances of Drug Discovery and Preclinical Development
    • Revenue Forecast Assumptions and Methodology
    • Revenue Forecast
    • Revenue Forecast by Phase of Development
    • Revenue Forecast Analysis
    • Revenue Forecast by Region
      • Table Drug Discovery and Early Development Outsourcing: Revenue Forecast by Region, 2021-2028
    • Percent Revenue Share by Region
      • Table Drug Discovery and Early Development Outsourcing: Revenue Share by Region, 2021-2028
    • Revenue Forecast Analysis by Region
    • Competitive Environment
    • Revenue Share by Type of Service Vendor
    • Revenue Share Analysis-CRO
    • Revenue Share Analysis-CDMO
    • Competitor Landscape by Type of Non-clinical Service
    • Competitor Landscape-CRDMOs
    • Competitor Landscape-CROs
    • Competitor Landscape-CDMOs
    • Competitor Assessment
  • Growth Opportunity Universe
    • Growth Opportunity 1: Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and Bioinformatics Capabilities
    • Growth Opportunity 2: Regulatory Consulting and IND-enabling Studies
    • Growth Opportunity 3: De Novo Drug Design and Disease Modeling with Generative AI
  • Next Steps
    • Your Next Steps
    • Why Frost, Why Now?

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