The Hyper Blog

Read the latest news and insights from the world of life science!
Category

HRS Press Releases

View Our Latest News

The CRO / CMO Industry: What You Need to Know

12 Jun 2018
The CRO / CMO Industry: What You Need to Know

Contract Research Organisations

The CRO / CMO industry has grown a lot in recent years. If you're looking to start a career in this sector, we at HRS can help you - view our CRO / CMO jobs here, or read on to learn all about the CRO and CMO industry and why it's flourishing right now.

Contract Research Organisations (CRO)

A contract research organisation is an organisation that is contracted by another firm (usually within the biotechnological, medical device and pharmaceutical industries) to provide outsourced research services.

CROs are popular because they offer a more cost-effective solution for firms seeking to produce new medicines for large and niche markets alike. By outsourcing research to CROs, the costs of conducting a trial are reduced massively as the firm will not need the infrastructure, space or manpower to run trials or conduct research themselves. Before CROs became an established method of pursuing approval for a drug, many companies would only take action when there was a sense of guaranteed approval for large markets.

This has made research into new medicines a much more feasible and affordable prospect for the average firm, reducing their general overhead costs. CROs provide a comprehensive range of services, including:

  • Clinical trial data management
  • Quality and metric reporting
  • Data entry and validation
  • Full project management

The fast growth of the CRO industry is evidence of the drastically changing pharmaceutical sector and how companies are adapting their methods to meet the ever-changing needs and demands of shareholders and society.

Learn more about contract research >

Contract Manufacturing Organisation (CMO)

A contract manufacturing organisation also serves other firms within the pharmaceutical industry on a contractual basis, but instead of providing research services, CMOs offer comprehensive drug development and manufacturing services.

Again, this assists the hiring company with scalability and allows them to focus on more important areas of their business, such as research or marketing. Alternatively, pharmaceutical firms may outsource drug manufacturing work to a CMO if they lack the expertise or facilities required to produce the quantity and/or form of a drug that is needed to perform pre-clinical and clinical trials.

The demand for the services that CMOs offer has resulted in fast growth for the CMO industry over the last decade, and this will continue as the need for CMOs increases. There are several promising trends within the CMO industry that are likely to accelerate further growth in the near future, including:

  • Flexible manufacturing plants – CMOs can invest in flexible manufacturing facilities that are designed to accommodate the changing needs of the pharmaceutical firms they cater for.

  • Cytotoxics – Cytotoxics is an area that has not received much attention but provides an opportunity for significant growth for the CMO industry due to the implications for cancer treatment.

  • Automation – The rise of automation within the CMO industry will see a reduction in the need for continuous checking of verification labour, ensuring consistency and reliability and increasing productivity levels.

Here at HRS, we have expertise and experience in both CRO and CMO, so if you’re interested in working in either of these sectors, we can help you!

Browse CRO/CMO jobs >