Life Sciences BPO Market

Life Sciences BPO Market: Key Trends

Due to the looming patent expiry, healthcare spending cuts, and decline in productive outcome of research and development, pharmaceutical giants are seeking services from contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) and contract research organizations (CROs) solutions. As per Transparency Market Research (TMR), outsourcing noncore business activities will allow pharma companies to focus on their core competencies. Besides this, life sciences BPO services also enable companies to optimally utilize their available resources.

Developed countries have currently emerged as major contributors to the global life sciences BPO market. The technological advancements witnessed in these countries have helped the pharmaceutical outsourcing to significantly evolve in the last few years. Furthermore, the rising opportunities in emerging economies such as India and China will further boost the global life sciences BPO market at 8.9% CAGR between 2015 and 2023.

TMR pegs the global life sciences market to reach US$286.3 bn by the end of 2023. The market was valued at US$127.4 bn in 2014.

High Prevalence of Chronic Ailments Puts North America at Forefront of Global Life Sciences BPO Market

North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World constitute the key regional segments of the global life sciences BPO market. Among these regions, North America emerged dominant in the market with a share of 38.6% in 2014. The U.S. and Canada have emerged as the most lucrative markets for life sciences BPO in the region. The increasing pool of geriatric patients and the high prevalence of chronic ailments are key factors bolstering opportunities for outsourcing in the pharmaceutical sector in North America. Additionally, with the expectation of healthcare spending to increase in the forthcoming years, North America is expected to demonstrate lucrative growth prospects for the life sciences BPO market.

The North America life sciences BPO market stood at US$49.1 bn in 2014. Rising at a CAGR of 6.2%, the market is expected to reach US$88.8 bn by the end of 2023. Europe, on the other hand, has emerged as the second largest market for life sciences BPO in 2014. The rising demand for biosimilar drugs is expected to boost the market for life sciences BPO in the region.

However, TMR expects Asia Pacific to demonstrate the highest CAGR of 14.6% between 2015 and 2023. The high prices of raw materials, increasing pricing pressure, and the need for reducing cost have compelled various multinational pharmaceutical companies to outsource some of their business activities to developing nations. Services offered by CMOs and CROs in emerging economies offer substantial cost saving advantage. This in turn fuels demand from the life sciences BPO market in Asia Pacific.

Rising Clinical Trials to Boost Demand for Services from CROs

Based on services, the life sciences BPO market can be segmented into CMO, CRO, and contract sales and marketing organizations (CSO). Of these, CMOs held the lion’s share in the market in 2014. The increasing demand for generic products across developing markets and year-on-year rise in R&D investments by leading companies have been fuelling demand for services from CMOs for the past few years. TMR forecasts the CMO segment to exhibit a CAGR of 7.3% from 2015 and 2023.

However, during the forecast period, the CRO segment is poised to witness stronger growth. As per TMR, rising demand for outsourcing services related to drug discovery, clinical data management, pharmacovigilance, clinical trials, and regulatory consulting will boost the CRO segment at a CAGR of 9.3% during the forecast period.

Some of the leading companies operating in the global life sciences BPO market include Accenture plc, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Anthelio Healthcare Solutions, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Catalent, Inc., PAREXEL International Corporation, International Business Machines Corporation, and others