In an effort to assess the trends in Contract and Clinical Research Organizations  (CROs) in Asia Pacific after the global economic slowdown, BioSpectrum conducted a survey of the CRO industry. BioSpectrum sent a questionnaire in June 2010 to 250 CROs from all across Asia Pacific region. The scope of the survey included the multinational, regional and local CROs with revenue upto $1 billion. In all, 39 CROs from India, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea and Hong Kong participated in the survey. 
The results of the survey when further corroborated with the market experts and analysts, BioSpectrum team found it to be a representative of the industry on ground situation. We discovered that 85 percent of the CROs are working on expanding the geographical reach so as to establish their direct presence in other countries and regions. 67 percent of the respondents have plans in place for client expansion, followed by product development (51 percent) and  revenue growth (41percent).

Projected growth in 2010
41 percent of CROs who responded positively noted that they projected a growth of over 26 percent in 2010 while 49 percent of them noted that they are looking forward for a growth in the range of 10-25 percent in 2010.

67 percent of CROs pointed that Asia Pacific is the base for doing phase III and phase IV studies due to the large patient population in the region, cheap labor, sponsors eagerness to launch the products in this growing market. Only 12 percent of the trials conducted in Asia Pacific are related to phase I trial, as the CROs are not keen on taking up phase I trials, due to regulations and restrictions from the local government agencies. 21 percent of the CROs are doing phase II trial studies in the region. 

Of all the employees working in CROs in Asia Pacific region, three percent are controlling the business in the region. About 18 percent of the staff are working towards getting business for the companies through sales and marketing activities. While a big chunk of 71 percent of the staff, who can be called as the back bone of the organization, are doing the behind-the-screen job, that is, research and development work. Leading therapeutic focus areas

S No	Therapeutic Area	Respondents (%)
1	Oncology	53
2	Cardiovascular	45
3	Central Nervous System	30
4	Diabetes	23
5	Metabolic diseases	19
6	Infectious disease	18
7	Dermatology	18
8	Opthalmology	13
9	Neurology	13
10	Respiratory	13
11	Inflammation	11
12	Medical devices	11
14	Psychiatry	10
15	Endocrinology	10
16	Gastroenterology	10