Patient Recruitment Services and Patient Retention Services Market by Patient Recruitment Step, Trial Phase Therapeutic Area and Key Geographies, Industry Trends and Global Forecasts, 2022-2035

Clinical trials form an integral part of the overall drug development process, enabling the necessary evaluation of the safety and efficacy of a drug candidate. As these trials are prone to delays, and can even fail altogether, they impose an immense financial pressure on sponsors. Studies suggest that around 40% of the total investment made for the development of a drug candidate is dedicated to clinical trials. However, the conduct of such trials is often fraught with challenges, including scientific and operational complexity, concerns associated with recruitment and retention of suitable patients, issues related to data handling and increasingly stringent regulatory guidelines. Further, owing to the inherent complexity of the overall process and involvement of several different stakeholders, these trials are prone to delays. It is worth mentioning that around 80% of the clinical trials are delayed due to insufficient patient recruitment. Further, retaining patients is also a major concern in pharmaceutical research and development; 15% to 40% of the enrolled patients drop out before the studies are completed, significantly impacting product approvals / launch timelines. Therefore, patient outreach, patient recruitment and patient retention strategies have evolved significantly, especially with the availability of a variety of digital data generation, management and marketing solutions. In fact, a number of modern technology-enabled offerings are now available to support various aspects of clinical research and patient recruitment. 

Q1. What is the current market landscape of the patient recruitment and patient retention services market?

Amongst several known challenges, patient recruitment is considered to be one of the rate limiting steps when it comes to getting drugs to the market. Presently, more than 155 companies have the required capabilities to offer patient recruitment services and patient retention services across different geographical locations. Such service providers employ a variety of outreach methods and, over time, have attained a vital role in the successful conduct of clinical research. Further, several contract service providers are entering into strategic alliances in order to enhance their respective capabilities and offer an expanded portfolio of services to their clients. 

Q2. How has outsourcing evolved in the patient recruitment and patient retention domain?

Several small and mid-sized players do not have dedicated patient enrolment teams and lack the necessary capabilities / expertise to successfully recruit desired number of patients in clinical trials. In some cases, the clinical studies are too large or geographically broad to be managed by internal staff. Further, the stringent ethical and regulatory guidelines associated with patient enrollment in trials impose a significant burden on drug developers. As a result, outsourcing has become a popular operating model with regards to patient recruitment and patient retention; several specialty service providers, with expertise and experience in this domain, are driving the growth of this upcoming segment of the healthcare market. The advantages of engaging contract service providers are numerous and enable sponsors to meet their clinical research timelines and thereby, launch respective offerings as planned. 

Q3. What are the recent developments and expected trends in the patient recruitment and patient retention domain?

Over the past decade, the patient recruitment and patient retention industry has witnessed tremendous increase in the use of social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Twitter, and mobile applications for engaging and recruiting patients in clinical studies; these approaches are cost-effective and can be used to connect with diverse and hard-to-reach patient populations. In pursuit of capability and competence improvements, several service providers have also begun adopting and implementing modern technical strategies, such as Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and Real-World Evidence (RWE) for patient enrolment; these novel methods tend to be more efficient and yield a narrow pool of potentially eligible participants for targeted mailings.

Q4. What are the key challenges faced by patient recruitment and patient retention service providers?

The primary challenge faced by patient recruitment and patient retention service providers is the lack of awareness amongst individuals regarding the clinical studies and the benefits offered to study participants. Further, pharmaceutical companies do not allocate adequate budget for carrying out the patient enrolment process. Specifically for clinical trials evaluating orphan drugs and personalized therapies, finding the specialized pool of eligible patients is a burdensome and costly task. Other challenges in this domain include fear of individuals about the adverse events associated with clinical trials, lack of communication between study participants and researchers due to language barrier, and large geographical distance between the patient’s residence and study site, which affect the participation and patient retention in research studies. 

Q5. What are the key value drivers in the patient recruitment and patient retention service market?

Owing to rise in the number of clinical trials that seek to enroll millions of patients, and complexities associated with patient accrual, drug developers are likely to outsource the patient recruitment and patient retention process to service providers. Moreover, we believe that increase in clinical development activity in emerging markets, availability of one-stop patient recruitment service providers, and stringent regulations related to patient enrollment are likely to provide further impetus to the patient recruitment services market.

Q6. What is the current market scenario and likely growth associated with patient recruitment services domain?

The patient recruitment services market is anticipated to grow at a steady pace in the coming years. Owing to the need for large and diverse patient populations, phase III trials are anticipated to be responsible for the maximum share of revenues within this domain. Currently, in terms of therapeutic area, the market is captured by patient recruitment projects for trials evaluating drugs intended for the treatment of cardiovascular disorders. However, this trend is likely to change in the foreseen future with the rising clinical trials focusing on therapeutics targeting oncological disorders. Specifically, in terms of geography, the patient recruitment services market in Asia Pacific is likely to grow at a relatively faster pace in the long term.

Scope of the Report

The “Patient Recruitment Services and Patient Retention Services Market (3rd Edition), 2022-2035: Distribution by Therapeutic Area (Cardiovascular Diseases, Oncological Disorders, Infectious Diseases, CNS Disorders, Respiratory Disorders, Hematological Disorders, Dermatological Disorders, Ophthalmic Disorders and Others), Patient Recruitment Step (Pre-screening and Screening), Trial Phase (Phase I, Phase II, Phase III and Phase IV) and Key Geographies (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and North Africa and Rest of the World” report features an extensive study of the current market landscape and future potential of the patient recruitment and patient retention services market, over the next decade. The study also features an in-depth analysis, highlighting the capabilities of various industry stakeholders engaged in this field. Amongst other elements, the report includes:

• A general overview of the clinical trials, featuring information on the different phases of clinical trials and their importance. The chapter also lays emphasis on patient recruitment process, its associated challenges and the different strategies used to enhance patient enrolment in clinical research studies. It also presents information on the affiliated ethical considerations and outsourcing activity in this domain. Further, it features an elaborate discussion on the various patient recruitment associated services offered by contract service providers as well as the patient retention strategies employed to prevent drop-out of enrolled individuals from clinical trials.
• A brief information on the various types of patient outreach methods used by contract service providers in this domain, to identify and enroll patients in clinical trials. Further, the chapter highlights the various advantages and limitations of these outreach methods.
• A detailed assessment of the overall landscape of companies offering patient recruitment and patient retention services, along with the information on several relevant parameters, such as year of establishment, company size (in terms of number of employees), location of headquarters, patient recruitment and patient retention services offered, patient outreach methods (social media outreach, traditional media outreach, directly approaching individual patients, leveraging proprietary patient databases, exploiting patient communities and advocacy groups, engaging local enrolment specialists, using digital advertising solutions, organizing large scale events / campaigns and exploiting real world data sources), number of patient outreach methods (less than 3 methods, 3 to 6 methods and more than 6 methods), patient recruitment associated service(s) offered (pre-screening potential study participants, study feasibility / protocol development, site identification and selection, project management, site management, IRB/EC submission, core CRO services, clinical monitoring, web development solutions, clinical trial data management, real-time enquiry / information support and investigator grant management), number of patient recruitment associated service(s) offered (less than 3 associated services, 3 to 6 associated services and more than 6 associated services), patient retention method(s) used (dedicated patient engagement solutions, offering study-branded amenities / education materials and offering transportation (to site) support), number of patient retention method(s) used (less than 2 methods, 2 to 5 methods and more than 5 methods), geographical reach (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World), therapeutic expertise (respiratory disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, healthy volunteers, cardiovascular disorders, central nervous system and mental health disorders, metabolic disorders, dermatological disorders, oncological disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders, ophthalmic disorders, medical devices, rare diseases / personalized therapies and others). The chapter also covers details on the payment model, patient recruitment platforms / technologies used and the various certifications / accreditations awarded by regulatory bodies.
• A detailed competitiveness analysis of patient recruitment and patient retention service providers, taking into consideration supplier strength (based on their experience in this field) and service strength (based on number of patient outreach methods, number of patient recruitment associated service(s) offered, number of patient retention method(s) used, geographical reach and therapeutic expertise).
• Elaborate profiles of prominent players (shortlisted based on a proprietary criterion) offering patient recruitment and patient retention services, across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World. Each profile features a brief overview of the company, along with details related to its patient recruitment and patient retention service portfolio, recent developments and an informed future outlook.
• An insightful analysis of the recent collaborations within the patient recruitment and patient retention industry, based on several relevant parameters, such as year of partnership, type of partnership (acquisitions, joint ventures, mergers, patient recruitment agreements, service alliances, technology development agreements, technology licensing agreements and others), focus area (clinical trial management, patient recruitment and patient retention), therapeutic area (autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular disorders, CNS disorders, dermatological disorders, metabolic disorders, oncological disorders, pain, rare diseases, respiratory disorders, and others), most active players (in terms of number of deals inked) and regional distribution of partnership activity that have been undertaken in this domain, during the period 2013-2022.
• A review of the emerging trends in the patient recruitment industry, including the use of social media, mobile technologies, electronic health records (EHR), real-world evidence (RWE) and artificial intelligence, to overcome the challenges associated with patient enrolment and retention.
• A detailed discussion on the key growth opportunities (such as rise in the number of clinical trials, development of personalized medicines / orphan drugs, growing opportunities in emerging markets, increasing preference for one-stop solutions, stringent regulations related to patient enrollment and technological advancements in clinical trial conduct) in the field of patient recruitment and patient retention that are likely to impact the evolution of the market over the coming years.
• A case study on regulatory landscape of patient recruitment, highlighting the regulatory process involved in patient enrollment, along with the information on regulatory guidelines, regulatory framework for patient recruitment, ethics committees in different countries and documents reviewed by the ethics committees.
• A brief overview of patient recruitment in clinical trials focused on personalized medicines and rare diseases, highlighting the key challenges in patient enrollment, specialized patient outreach methods being used to recruit and the key players engaged in this field.
• A detailed analysis of the annual demand for study participants, taking into account the target patient population in ongoing and planned clinical trials, sponsored by both industry and non-industry players.
• A detailed assessment on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the patient recruitment and patient retention services market. In addition, it features various strategies that different companies adopted in order to mitigate the challenges associated with patient recruitment faced during the global crisis.

One of the key objectives of the report was to evaluate the current opportunity and the future growth potential of the patient recruitment and patient retention services market over the coming years. We have provided an informed estimate on the likely evolution of the market in the short to mid-term and long term, for the period 2022-2035. The report also features a likely distribution of the current and forecasted opportunity across important parameters, such as [A] patient recruitment steps (pre-screening and screening), [B] trial phase (phase I, phase II, phase III and phase IV), [C] therapeutic area (cardiovascular disorders, oncological disorders, infectious diseases, CNS disorders, respiratory disorders, haematological disorders, metabolic disorders, dermatological disorders, ophthalmic disorders and others) and [D] key geographies (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and Rest of the World). 

In order to account for future uncertainties and to add robustness to our model, we have provided three market forecast scenarios, namely conservative, base and optimistic scenarios, representing different tracks of the industry’s growth.

All actual figures have been sourced and analyzed from publicly available information forums and primary research discussions. Financial figures mentioned in this report are in USD, unless otherwise specified. 

The opinions and insights presented in the report were also influenced by discussions held with senior stakeholders in the industry. The report features detailed transcripts of interviews held with the following individuals:

• Susan Fitzpatrick-Napier (Founder and Director, TrialWire)
• Kate Shaw (Chief Executive Officer and Founder) and Marco Lassandro (Marketing and Communications Manager, Innovative Trials)
• Simon Klaasen (Co-founder and Managing Director, Link2Trials)
• Stefan Mayer-Eggersmann (Chief Commercial Officer, Clariness)
• Ken Shore (Chief Commercial Officer, Continuum Clinical)
• Hagit Nof (Chief Operation Officer and Business Development Officer, nRollmed)
• Paul Ivsin (Ex-Managing Director, Seeker Health)
• Kasturi Lakhe (Inside Sales Specialist, EVERSANA)