Electronic Clinical Outcome Assessment (eCOA) Solutions Market Analysis By Delivery Mode (Web-hosted, Licensed Enterprise, Cloud-based), By End Use (Hospitals, Biotech/Pharma Organizations), & Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025

Industry Insights

The global Electronic Clinical Outcome Assessment (eCOA) solutions market size was estimated at USD 616.9 million in 2016. The rising adoption of eCOA by medical research professionals is driving market growth. For instance, the Journal of Clinical Studies in 2015, estimated that currently 7% of all trials are incorporating eCOA solutions and it is anticipated to grow by 20% by 2018. 

As the healthcare sector is witnessing lucrative growth, the demand for research studies to develop novel drugs and treatments is also increasing. With the rising number of research studies, the need for centralized data capture system is also increasing. Thus, the aforementioned factors are anticipated to fuel product demand over the forecast period.

U.S. eCOA solutions market revenue by delivery mode, 2014 - 2025 (USD million)

In addition, rising burden on pharmaceutical manufacturers to cut down overall costs for new drug development procedures has resulted in their rising inclination toward electronic data capturing from paper-based procedures. The data capturing via eCOA platforms improves quality of information received, harmonizes the data collection procedures, and offers significant value to its users, such as data analysis.  

Electronic-based services for data capturing & analyzing meet all the challenges of paper-based records, with increase in patient compliance. They also eliminate the risk of data variance and minimize the site monitoring cost. Streamlined information offered by these solutions helps improvise the data quality by collecting the information in structured way. These aforementioned benefits with the use of eCOA are expected to drive the demand for products in coming years. 

The need for integration of patient care into clinical research studies is leads to patient-centric approach being implemented by sponsors, which results in surge of adoption of eCOA platforms. 

Delivery Mode Insights 

Web-hosted eCOA solutions held the largest revenue share as of 2016, owing to the associated benefits with its usage. Remote access to the patient’s health information and sharing of information to limit potential misuse of data or address the problems at critical point of study are some of the key features offered by web-based services. 

Moreover, these services are easy to access but require proper IT infrastructure which costs higher for the smaller organizations. Some of the companies offering web based solutions are CRF Health, Kayentis, ERT Solutions, among others. Presence of large number of service providers offering these products keeps the competition at higher level. 

However, implementation of cloud based platforms is expected to change the market dynamics. These platforms offer a single platform by which researcher, patient, and sponsor can have the access to medical information. Cloud based eCOA services are presumed to show lucrative growth over the forecast period. The shifting preference from web hosted to cloud based services is due to the advantages associated with the use of cloud based solutions. 

Cloud based platforms enable the user to keep track of all the information, minimizes the risk of data theft by providing secure platform for information sharing and doesn’t requires established IT infrastructure. 

End-use Insights

Contract Research Organizations (CROs) held the largest revenue share in 2016 and are expected to witness significant growth in near future due to growing demand from the major pharmaceutical companies. Increasing burden on pharma companies for saving the overall cost on clinical development studies is expected to have a positive impact on growth of CROs segment over the forecast period. 

Hospitals are adopting electronic data capturing services to improve patient engagement in research studies, as eCOA digitally collects the information from both patients and doctors. eCOA captures information on handheld devices such as smartphones & tablets, interactive voice response systems, browsers, and patients’ Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD). It utilizes secure systems that meet the regulatory guidelines for capturing clinical data.

Global eCOA solutions market revenue by region, 2016 (%)

The adoption of mHealth devices and introduction of advanced technologies for patient care, such as BYOD, are the key growth propellers for the implementation of eCOA solutions into hospitals. 

Pharma & biotech companies and medical device manufactures prefer to outsource research studies to meet the regulatory requirements, but some of the major companies run their own division for research activities. The penetration of eClinical services is low as compared to other end users. 

Regional Insight 

North America was estimated to be the largest regional market in 2016. Presence of technologically advanced research centers, medical device manufacturers, universities, and hospitals coupled with improved healthcare establishments are expected to drive the new drug development activities in the coming years. 

The U.S. accounted for the largest market share of North America in 2016, owing to the higher adoption levels of healthcare analytics services. Initiatives pertaining to the adoption of eClinical platforms undertaken by various government and nonprofit organizations are anticipated to boost the usage in coming years. Furthermore, presence of stringent regulations pertaining to product approval and implementation of eCOA by established players to save expenditure on medical information management are additional contributing factor to the industry. 

As an emerging economy, Asia Pacific is growing in terms of government funding related to clinical research and drug discovery, which is projected to enhance the market growth. Moreover, growing demand for personal care devices and related services as a result of increasing government spending on healthcare is expected to accentuate the eClinical services market in Asia Pacific. 

In addition, emergence of India & China as outsourcing hubs for major pharma & biotech companies is anticipated to be a key contributing factor toward the rising demand for eCOA solutions over the forecast period. 

Competitive Insights

The global eCOA market is highly competitive. Some of the key players operating in this industry are Oracle Corporation; Paraxel International Corporation; Medidata Solution, Inc.; Merge Healthcare Incorporated; BioClinica; eClinical Solutions; CRF Health; ERT Clinical; and OmniComm Systems, Inc. 

These companies are implementing strategies such as acquisitions, partnership agreements, distribution channel enhancement, new product launches, and geographic enhancement to make more profits. In February 2017, CRF Health announced a global partnership agreement with Vodafone to enhance the service provided to clinical trial operators and their patients. This agreement enables CRF to use Vodafone’s Machine-to-Machine platform. 

Moreover, in February 2015, ERT Clinical and PHT Corporation entered into definitive agreement according to which ERT acquired PHT in a probe-to-product portfolio expansion. This agreement also helps expansion of geographic footprints of ERT. Thus, similar strategic initiatives are anticipated to boost competition over the forecast period. 

Report Scope

Segments covered in the report

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional & country levels and provides an analysis of the industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global eCOA solutions market on the basis of delivery mode, end use, and region:

• Delivery Mode Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Web hosted

  • Licensed enterprises

  • Cloud based

• End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Hospitals

  • CROs

  • Academic Institutes

  • Pharma & Biotech Companies

  • Medical Device Manufacturers

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • North America

    • U.S.

    • Canada

  • Europe

    • UK

    • Germany

  • Asia Pacific

    • Japan

    • China

    • India

  • Latin America

    • Brazil

    • Mexico

  • The Middle East and Africa

    • South Africa

    • Saudi Arabia