Preclinical CRO Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the preclinical CRO market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global preclinical CRO market reached a value of nearly $5.2 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.63% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $5.2 billion in 2023 to $8.3 billion in 2028 at a rate of 9.78%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.35% from 2028 and reach $12.9 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from the strong economic growth in emerging markets, increased focus on personalized medicine, growing focus on clinical trials, increased demand for the pharmaceutical industry, expansion of the biopharmaceutical sector, rising focus on drug development and increased R&D spending Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period include high cost of preclinical studies.

Going forward, the increasing aging population worldwide, rising healthcare expenditure, growing incidence of chronic diseases and increasing government initiatives will drive the market. Factors that could hinder the growth of the preclinical CRO market in the future include the limited availability of skilled professionals.

The preclinical CRO market is segmented by service into bioanalysis and DMPK studies, toxicology testing, compound management, chemistry, safety pharmacology and other services. The toxicology testing market was the largest segment of the preclinical CRO market segmented by service, accounting for 25.9% or $1.3 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the bioanalysis and DMPK studies segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the preclinical CRO market segmented by service, at a CAGR of 12.93% during 2023-2028.

The preclinical CRO market is segmented by type into patient derived organoid (PDO) model and patient derived xenograft model. The patient derived organoid (PDO) model market was the largest segment of the preclinical CRO market segmented by type, accounting for 79.9% or $4.1 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the patient derived xenograft model segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the preclinical CRO market segmented by type, at a CAGR of 13.22% during 2023-2028.

The preclinical CRO market is segmented by animal model into small animal model and large animal model. The large animal model market was the largest segment of the preclinical CRO market segmented by animal model, accounting for 78.5% or $4.1 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the small animal model segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the preclinical CRO market segmented by animal model, at a CAGR of 11.39% during 2023-2028.

The preclinical CRO market is segmented by model system into in vivo and in vitro. The in vivo market was the largest segment of the preclinical CRO market segmented by model system, accounting for 66.7% or $3.5 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the in vitro segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the preclinical CRO market segmented by model system, at a CAGR of 10.47% during 2023-2028.

The preclinical CRO market is segmented by end user into biopharmaceutical companies, government and academic institutes, medical device companies and other end-users. The biopharmaceutical companies market was the largest segment of the preclinical CRO market segmented by end user, accounting for 81.3% or $4.2 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the biopharmaceutical companies segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the preclinical CRO market segmented by end user, at a CAGR of 10.40% during 2023-2028.

North America was the largest region in the preclinical CRO market, accounting for 45.3% or $2.3 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by Western Europe, Asia-Pacific and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the preclinical CRO market will be Asia-Pacific and South America, where growth will be at CAGRs of 13.33% and 12.19% respectively. These will be followed by the Middle East and Africa, where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 11.04% and 10.35% respectively.

The global preclinical CRO market is fairly concentrated, with large players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up 30.6% of the total market in 2023. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. was the largest competitor with a 10.1% share of the market, followed by Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD) with 8.9%, Eurofins Scientific SE with 2.8%, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (Covance Inc.) with 2.1%, ICON Plc with 2%, WuXi AppTec Co., Ltd. with 1.2%, Crown Bioscience with 1.2%, Novotech CRO with 0.8%, Parexel International with 0.7% and Inotiv, Inc. (Envigo) with 0.7%.

The top opportunities in the preclinical CRO market segmented by service will arise in the bioanalysis and DMPK studies segment, which will gain $0.9 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the preclinical CRO market segmented by type will arise in the patient derived organoid (PDO) model segment, which will gain $2.2 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the preclinical CRO market segmented by animal model will arise in the patient derived organoid (PDO) model segment, which will gain $2.3 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the preclinical CRO market segmented by model system will arise in the in vivo segment, which will gain $2 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the preclinical CRO market segmented by end user will arise in the biopharmaceutical companies segment, which will gain $2.7 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The preclinical CRO market size will gain the most in the USA at $1.1 billion.

Market-trend-based strategies for the preclinical CRO market include introduction of comprehensive clinical trial services units for end-to-end support, innovative CRO solutions that combine traditional services with cutting-edge technology and accelerating drug development pipelines with advanced ai platforms.

Player-adopted strategies in the preclinical CRO market include focuses on expanding business expertise through new product developments and strengthening business operations through strategic partnerships.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the preclinical CRO companies to focus on comprehensive clinical trial services, focus on innovative CRO solutions, focus on advanced ai platforms for drug development, focus on bioanalysis and DMPK studies segment, focus on patient derived xenograft models segment, focus on large animal models segment, focus on in vitro models segment, expand in emerging markets, continue to focus on developed markets, provide competitively priced offerings, participate in trade shows and events, continue to use B2B promotions and focus on government and academic institutes.