Good news to language service providers who are active in the clinical research space: Zion Research forecasted a 10% CAGR for global clinical research for the next five years until it reaches almost $60 billion come 2020. Outsourcing to contract research organizations (CROs) is a growing trend alongside the broader life sciences outsourcing category, which Transparency Market Research predicts will become a $596 billion market by 2019 at a CAGR of 22% from 2013 to 2019.

In the infographic below, Transparency Market Research indicates that contract research outsourcing makes up a third of the entire life sciences outsourcing space. The vertical includes pre-clinical studies, clinical trials, clinical data management, pharmacovigilance, regulatory affairs, and medical writing, among others.

The growth of outsourcing clinical development can be attributed to rising in-house research and development costs, high failure rates of clinical trials, and increasing patent expirations. While growth of the larger life sciences outsourcing space as a whole is being kept in check by data safety concerns and stringent regulations, there is a growing trend within contract research outsourcing where strategic alliances, acquisitions among vendors, and joint ventures are expanding the global reach and service offerings of CROs.

Zion Research’s report indicates that the last-stage clinical development sector employed more CROs at 70% of 2014’s total market share. This sector is also projected to see the fastest growth in the next half decade. It includes phase II to IV clinical studies as well as central lab services.

Language service providers play varied roles within CRO operations, and these forecasts seem to point to even more demand in the coming years. Larger global companies like RWS Holdings are already making moves to increase their presence in the life sciences space.

As Slator pointed out in a previous article about CROs:

Continued growth within the CRO space leaves LSPs that have the expertise to deal with the complexities of managing a large CRO account in a strong position to benefit from the industry’s upward trajectory. Furthermore, other developments in technology and digitization such as electronic patient reported outcome (ePRO) and even legislation that regulates clinical trials such as the upcoming EU Regulation No. 536/2014 are seemingly driving even more demand for translation.
– So What Are Clinical Research Organizations and Why Should LSPs Care?