Drug discovery is increasingly outsourced, finds report
Firms in Eastern Europe and Asia chosen for providing cost savings and their expertise
The drug discovery process is a long, arduous and costly business that is increasingly being handled by outside firms, according to a report by Kalorama Information.
The US healthcare market research publisher, in its report, Outsourcing in Drug Discovery, finds that pharmaceutical firms are now routinely outsourcing a number of core functions including clinical trial management, manufacturing, as well as portions of the drug discovery process.
Figures from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) indicate that r&d budgets have been declining, or at least not growing in recent years. They reveal that r&d spending dropped by just slightly more than 2% to US$49.5bn in 2011, which has led to much of the advanced work, such as target identification and validation, early toxicology or high throughput screening, to be moved to outsourcing firms.
Kalorama reveals in its report that companies in Eastern Europe or Asia are increasingly handling this work and winning contracts for the cost savings they can provide and also for their expertise.
The global market for outsourced drug discovery services was up 15% from last year despite the current unsettled economic environment, and it remains robust with an optimistic outlook going forward, according to the healthcare publisher.
Outsourcing in Drug Discovery provides breakouts of revenue estimates by function performed. Segments covered in the report include: chemistry services; biology services; screening services and lead optimisation.
It also details trends in the outsourcing industry, provides partnership strategies and profiles key companies in the market.
