The medical affairs function is gaining importance in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and diagnostic sectors of the economy today. Additionally, as a product moves through its lifecycle, the necessity of medical affairs efforts increases sooner and later. The desire of practicing doctors to be and remain more clinically knowledgeable and educated about new therapeutic concepts and advancements—on the cutting edge—is the fundamental cause of this increased participation.
High Quality and Cost-Effective Services Offered by CROs Drives the Global Market
Pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical businesses use contract medical affairs services as a "strategic competitive weapon" since they can cut costs. Due to escalating R&D expenses and pharmaceutical companies' more significant emphasis on cost conservation, there is a major growth in the need for medical affairs services. Biopharmaceutical businesses are increasingly prepared to outsource their medical affairs activities to increase quality and reduce expenses. This tendency is projected to continue as CROs' capacity to manage each medical affairs function grows, which would reduce the need for more work from biopharmaceutical companies. Partnerships between biopharmaceutical companies and CROs are expected to enhance the global market for medical affairs outsourcing.
Rising Number of Clinical Trials Creates Tremendous Opportunities
More clinical trials and research studies are being done globally due to pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies increasing their R&D spending. According to Mint Medical, about 35,000 oncological clinical trials—or 18% of all trials—have been initiated since 2007. In addition, the number of oncological trials launched each year increased by more than 600%, from 2,500 in 2007 to 4,000 in 2017. The need for medical affairs service providers among pharmaceutical and medical device companies has steadily increased due to the increase in clinical studies and the release of new drugs.
North America is the most significant global medical affairs outsourcing market shareholder and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.80% during the forecast period. The growing pipeline of biotechnology products indicates that biologic medicine approvals have dramatically expanded and currently account for 39.0% of all new drug approvals. Strict regulatory requirements and increased R&D spending in North America are expected to increase the need for large biopharmaceutical to outsource medical affairs services. In addition, many North American-based biopharmaceutical and medical device companies outsource some of their regulatory responsibilities to regulatory service providers. Biopharmaceutical and medical device businesses with headquarters in North America have started to outsource some of their work to specialists due to the significant issue with R&D costs.
Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.90%, generating USD 1,469.93 million during the forecast period. This is because the area's regulatory environment is improving, costs are going down, more clinical trials are being conducted, and the biopharmaceutical industry is growing. The availability of trained labor in the region at a lower cost than in the United States is another element projected to stimulate growth. Similarly, the region's varied and complicated regulatory environment may cause an increase in demand for various medical affair service providers due to the expansion of existing biopharmaceutical businesses there.
Europe is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period. To access the European market, players need to have a thorough understanding of the various regulatory procedures in the various European Union member states. Small and mid-sized biopharmaceutical companies usually hire a regulatory consultant or legal counsel to assist them in navigating the regulatory approval stages necessary for marketing their product in Europe since they lack a regulatory affairs division. This is one of the primary reasons medical matters are increasingly being outsourced in the life sciences sector. There would be a greater need for local life sciences companies' services if more medications were seeking regulatory approval.