Greater reliance on hybrid clinical trial models, remote patient monitoring and virtual trial platforms during and after the COVID-19 crisis is expected to drive revenue growth for the CRO market to upward of $63.8 billion by 2024, representing an 8.2 percent annual rate of increase from the $43 billion in revenue reported in 2019.

According to a Frost and Sullivan research report, the recovery of the CRO market will likely start in 2023. While drug discovery and preclinical activity will see an initial decline in revenue, Frost and Sullivan forecast that rapid recovery will be achieved through implementation and increased use of virtual trial tools and evolving regulatory policies.

In the report, the firm noted that pharma’s R&D spending is expected to decrease by 2 percent to 3 percent by 2024, primarily due to the pandemic. However, hybrid models may ultimately enable R&D cost savings of up to 15 percent to 20 percent, reducing the risk of trial interruptions, the report added.