The global eClinical solutions market is expected to reach about $5 billion by 2018, at a CAGR of 13.5% from 2013 to 2018, according to a new report from MarketsandMarkets.

A number of factors are driving the growth of the eClinical solutions market, including:

• the increasing pressure for reducing the cost and time consumed during clinical trial processes
• the rising need for improved data standardization in terms of improving and maintaining the quality of clinical trial procedures to meet regulatory requirements
• government grants and initiatives to support drug development
• the increasing adoption of cloud-based eClinical solutions
• significant spending on clinical R&D by pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries.

On the other hand, factors such as the high capital requirement for implementation of eClinical systems and the growing burden on clinical research teams in terms of skilled labor force and training are restricting the growth of this market.

However, a number of factors—such as growth in the number of clinical researchers in emerging regions, increasing adoption of cloud technology for the development of eClinical suites and shifting trend of clinical resources from Academic Medical Centers to CROs—are expected to offer high growth opportunities for eClinical solution vendors.

As of 2013, North America held the largest share, at 60.1%, of the global eClinical solutions market, followed by Europe with 26.4%. However, the Asia Pacific market is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 19.5% from 2013 to 2018. A number of factors—including the presence of a large patient population, faster recruitment of patients in developing countries, availability of low cost CROs, increasing government support, shortage of trial volunteers in European and North American countries and the growth in the number of pharmaceutical companies—are driving the growth of the Asia Pacific eClinical solutions market.

The global eClinical solutions market is divided into two segments: products market and professional services market. The products market is further divided into clinical data management systems/electronic data capture, clinical trial management systems, electronic clinical outcome assessment, randomization and trial supply management, safety solutions and others—core lab integration systems, regulatory information management services and coding systems. The professional services segment includes implementation services, training, support services and consulting.

Based on the type of buyer, the global eClinical solutions market is segmented into pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical/medical device companies, CROs and healthcare providers. Based on the type of delivery mode, the market is classified as web-based, on-premise and cloud-based eClinical solutions.

MarketsandMarkets is a global market research and consulting company based in the U.S. The report, eClinical Solutions Market by Products, Services, Buyers & Delivery Modes—Global Forecast to 2018, analyzes and studies the major market drivers, restraints, opportunities and challenges in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of World.