Export opportunity – USA CRO and AI solutions in pharma services

USA – CRO and AI solutions in pharma services opportunity summary 

Research and development (R&D) within the biopharma industry continues to grow with an increase in the contribution of small/medium biotech companies to drug discovery and development.  As such, the global non-clinical contract research market was forecast at $16.74 billion USD in 2021 and is forecast to increase to $32.1 billion USD in 2027.   

Although the industry is seeing a decline in the number of new drug approvals, the implementation of AI capabilities in early drug discovery is expected to lead to the discovery of novel candidates and encourage additional cost-saving mechanisms. 

There is also a need for increased efficiency and productivity to cope with the low R&D success rates brought on by traditional methods of drug discovery. 

Scale of export opportunity

According to ReportLinker, the USA Contract Research Outsourcing (CRO) market was estimated to be worth $11.2 billion USD in 2020. The US accounts for 27% of the global market and is seeing average annual growth of 8.4%. 

Revenue for AI solutions in the pharmaceutical industry was $994.5 million USD in 2018. It is projected to more than double by 2022, reaching $2.2 billion USD. 

Company suitability

Scottish companies best positioned to win this type of business will fit with some of the following:

• CROs with capabilities and expertise in drug discovery through the preclinical stages of a product development pipeline
• Small or medium size enterprises (SMEs) that have developed digital health solutions that implement AI into their workflow management for early-stage drug discovery applications