Clinical Trial Patient Recruitment Services Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Service Type, By Phase, By Therapeutic Areas (Respiratory System, Oncology, Others), By Age Group, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2030

Report Overview

The global clinical trial patient recruitment services market size was valued at USD 779.5 million in 2021 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 8.0% from 2022 to 2030. The global market has noticed significant growth owing to the increasing rate of clinical trials, and the rapid growth of the medical and pharmaceutical industries. The COVID-19 outbreak had momentarily slowed down the process of clinical studies in 2020, due to the lockdown implemented by the government, which had a negative impact on the market.

Clinical studies are conducted to collect data regarding the efficacy and safety of the new medical devices and drug development. As the number of patients needed for clinical trials increases for the purpose of regulatory and safety issues which drive trends toward longer and larger trials, thus simultaneously increasing the demand for patient recruitment services.

Patient recruitment is one of the major aspects of ensuring the success of a clinical trial. On-time recruitment of patients and investigators is a challenge for clinical trial organizations. Moreover, patient retention through engagement is another major factor that is often overlooked.      

Furthermore, it is evident that the majority of the clinical trials fail due to poor patient recruitment. For instance, as per a white paper published by Clinithink, 46% of the clinical studies fail due to poor recruitment, and 30% of the total time is spent on recruiting patients. Up to 45% of study delays of six months or more can be attributed to recruitment challenges. Clinical trial sponsors have witnessed a significant increase in budgets and the cost of delays. They may lose up to USD 1.3 million per day if a clinical trial is delayed due to recruitment issues.

Restrictions on movement and stay-at-home orders are helping reduce the spread of COVID-19. However, this created an obstacle in clinical trials intended to find effective treatments for various diseases. The integrity of over 330,000 clinical trials registered on Clinicaltrials.gov has been impacted as the novel coronavirus continues to spread worldwide. As of March 26, 2020, at least 18 pharma or biotech companies reported disturbance in clinical trials as a result of the pandemic.

The shift in focus of biopharmaceutical companies on developing vaccines and therapies in response to COVID-19 has resulted in unintended consequences that may disrupt clinical trials for other diseases. Medidata has conducted a frequent analysis of enrollment data from around 4,600 ongoing clinical trials and over 182,000 study sites globally. The report shows a considerable decrease in the number of new patients enrolling in clinical trials for actively recruiting studies. In April 2020, the global average enrollment of new patients reduced by nearly 75%, compared to a 64% decline in March 2020.

However, it also revealed ways to grow, either through M&A or through the adoption of digital technologies in clinical research. The trend toward more patient-centric trial options has emerged during the pandemic. The industry has been witnessing wide use of decentralized research methods and flexible techniques built around patient safety and convenience.

The clinical trial market as well as the clinical trial patient recruitment management industry acknowledged the benefits of Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCTs), or virtual trials as the optimal solution to regain business as well as make clinical research more efficient & cost-effective. 

Phase Insights

The phase III patient recruitment services segment dominated the market with the need for the largest revenue share of 57.1% in 2021. This growth can be attributed to the fact that phase III clinical trials are the most expensive ones and involve a significant number of subjects. The failure rate in this phase is the highest due to the sample size, and the study design requires complex dosing at an optimum level. The loss associated with failure is both human & financial and the majority of the failures occur due to noncompliance with safety & efficacy standards. 

According to a clinical trial logistics survey by Nice Insights, 35.0% of phase III clinical trials are outsourced and the number is likely to increase owing to the growing number of investigational drugs advancing to the next phase. 

The phase I segment on the other hand is anticipated to witness a considerable growth rate of 9.5% across the forecast period. An increasing number of therapeutics being studied for the management and cure of rare diseases is one of the major factors supporting the lucrative growth rate of phase I patient recruitment services. Moreover, the rate of patients being recruited in the initial phases is higher which tends to decrease across the other phases due to prolonged investigational trials leading to dropouts.

Therapeutic Areas Insights

In terms of therapeutic areas, the clinical trial patient recruitment services market is classified into respiratory diseases, pain and anesthesia, oncology, central nervous system, cardiovascular, endocrine, anti-infective, and others. The pain and anesthesia segment held the highest market share of 13.7% in 2021. Larger shares of the segment are majorly due to the high cost of pain and anesthesia-related clinical studies, thus increasing the cost of patient recruitment services across the disease area.

Oncology related patient recruitment services segment is anticipated to witness a lucrative CAGR of 9.2% across the forecast period. The high growth of the segment is majorly due to the increasing number of cancer drugs being developed over the past few years, simultaneously boosting the demand for patient enrollment in such trials. For instance, as per an article published by McKinsey & Company, oncology therapeutics accounted for USD 143 billion in branded pharmaceutical sales in 2019, reflecting approximately 20% of global pharmaceutical sales.

Age Group Insights

In terms of age group, the adult (18 - 64 Years) segment held the highest market share of 49.5% in 2021. High shares of the segment are majorly due to the presence of a larger number of participants amidst the age group in the clinical studies conducted so far. This is due to the fact that the population in the aforementioned age group shows greater variability in terms of experiments, coupled with the fact that this age group is much safe and healthy to perform experiments compared to children or older adults/boomers.

The older adults (65 Years+) segment, on the other hand, is poised to witness a considerable growth rate across the analysis period, owing to the increasing prevalence of geriatric conditions or diseases. The age group is prone to several health conditions such as high blood pressure, nerve damage, vision loss, kidney disease, orthopedic issues, etc, which has made them a desirable population to conduct clinical studies.

Service Type Insights

Patient recruitment management includes patient recruitment & registry services, patient retention services, and others (analytics, marketing). Patient recruitment & registry services held 67.7% of the market share in 2021. It is observed that 86% of all trials fail to reach enrolling deadlines, and 30% of phase III trials fail to owe to enrolment difficulties.

According to a survey conducted by Deloitte, patient recruitment is the most expensive aspect of clinical trials, accounting for 32% of total costs. Involving patients in the development of new therapies and trial design, as well as involving them in the development and post-market process aids in recruitment & retention while also providing indisputable evidence of the value of therapies in the real world.

Patient retention services are anticipated to witness a considerable growth rate of 8.2% across the analysis timeframe. The use of technology encompasses a wide range of outreach tools, including online health communities, social media, and digital marketing. These initiatives are rapidly altering the landscape of clinical trials.

Since these people are actively engaged online, sponsors, recruitment suppliers, advertisers, and others can see behavioral trends during their online engagement. This is essential if using online outreach to aid in retention so that companies can determine where to spend the money to reach the target patient population.               

Regional Insights

North America dominated the global market in 2021 with the largest revenue share of 50.4%. This market is likely to grow due to the high number of clinical trials being conducted in the region. Major R&D investments and government support for clinical trials are further promoting market growth.

The presence of key CROs offering support services such as patient recruitment and multinational pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies making major investments in clinical research has contributed to growth in the North America clinical trial patient recruitment services market. 

Asia Pacific clinical trial patient recruitment services market is projected to be the fastest-growing regional market with a CAGR of 9.1% over the forecast period. The Asia Pacific region has become a hotspot for conducting clinical trials on account of the cheap study costs, ease of regulatory compliance, increasing patient population, and the presence of a few elite clinical institutions functioning as sites.

Key Companies and Market Share Insights

Mergers, acquisitions, expansions, and collaborations, are the key strategies adopted by key players to maintain their market share. For instance, in September 2021, Syneos Health partnered with Ride Health, a provider of non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) for clinical trial participants, this partnership was intended to improve clinical trial recruitment and retention service of Syneos Health by providing transportation facilities to the participants.

In September 2020, ICON launched Accellacare, a clinical research network used for increasing patient recruitment in clinical trials. This network allows patients easy and fast access to advanced treatments and offers patients the option to choose decentralized trials. Some prominent players in the clinical trial patient recruitment services market include:

• Antidote

• Clara Health

• Clariness

• BBK Worldwide

• Worldwide Clinical Trials

• Clinical Site Services (CCSi)

• IQVIA

• PPD Inc

• Veristat

• Elligo Health Research

Clinical Trial Patient Recruitment Services Market Report Scope

Segments Covered in the Report

This report forecasts revenue growth at regional & country levels and provides an analysis of the industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2018-to 2030. For this study, Grand View Research has segmented the clinical trial patient recruitment services market based on service, therapeutic areas, age group, phase, and region:

• Service Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • Patient Recruitment & Registry Services

  • Patient Retention Services

  • Others

• Phase Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • Phase I

  • Phase II

  • Phase III

  • Phase IV

• Therapeutic Areas Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • Respiratory Diseases

  • Pain and Anesthesia

  • Oncology

  • Central Nervous System

  • Cardiovascular

  • Endocrine

  • Anti-Infective

  • Others

• Age Group Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • Child (Birth-17 Years)

  • Adult (18 - 64 Years)

  • Older Adults (65 Years+)

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • North America

    • U.S.

    • Canada

  • Europe

    • U.K.

    • Germany

    • France

    • Italy

    • Spain

  • Asia Pacific

    • Japan

    • China

    • India

    • Thailand

    • South Korea

  • Latin America

    • Brazil

    • Mexico

    • Argentina

    • Colombia

  • Middle East & Africa

    • South Africa

    • Saudi Arabia

    • UAE