Coronavirus Increases Pressure on Clinical Research Industry, Beroe Analysis

RALEIGH, North Carolina, Jun 18, 2020 - The coronavirus pandemic has had a major impact on industries worldwide, including clinical research. Except for on-going trials, those trials that had started recruiting or were about to start have been halted. Pre-clinical testing for new drugs might slow down due to lockdown in all major countries except drugs or vaccines for COVID-19, according to Beroe Inc, a procurement intelligence firm.

A majority of top pharma companies are engaged in clinical research on vaccines, followed by antibodies, antivirals, cell-based therapies, devices and RNA based treatments.

There has been an increase in regional approaches in clinical research, as a result of COVID-19, as sponsors in the near and long term would not prefer in-sourcing chemists from China or other international countries given the pandemic conditions. This could result in development of strategic partnerships with regional companies. Majority of sponsor companies maintain partnerships with Wuxiapptec, Medicilon and a number of other preclinical companies in the APAC region. The COVID-19 pandemic could hugely impact the logistics of samples, import-export etc. slowing down the process of discovery.

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Beroe, which is based in North Carolina, further stated that procurement experts can access this report on market intelligence platform Beroe LiVE: live.beroeinc.com

There is a high demand of service providers who provide in vivo toxicology studies as data on in-vitro/in-vivo activity of the candidate helps therapeutics against COVID19, and in considerations regarding dosage, route of and time for administration, as well as safety and efficacy data in humans. There is also an increase in the need for biomarkers for COVID research, as it is essential to understand the disease nature where a lot of research companies are involved in understanding the pandemic uplifting the research market.

The coronavirus pandemics has led to a significant increase in investments in artificial intelligence and other new technologies as the adoption of AI would rise. Pharma would aim to speed up the discovery process by identifying potential therapeutic targets and staying on top of the competition. Based on impact on all Preclinical testing, sponsors would in the near term invest heavily on technology platforms for target identification, high throughput, real-world evidence, etc. on therapeutic targets.

Key Findings:

• At the clinical level, the impact of COVID 19 has been medium, however the outlook impact is high and expected to remain long term. Delay in trials will increase R&D cost and thus affect Pharma’s revenue for the year 2020.
• There is a medium impact at the preclinical level, with the outlook impact expected to be medium and short term, as the preclinical level is directly proportional to COVID-19; the earlier the withdrawal of restriction, earlier the testing for new drugs will increase.
• Major Pharma companies have changed their R&D plans such as delaying site activation and delaying in patient recruitment. Trial results are impacted thus increasing clinical trial failures.
• FDA has created a team under CDER, requesting sponsors to submit a Pre-IND meeting with the team so that IND approval is done faster. The pre-IND meeting and package development process has been consolidated so as to ease the procedure.
• The European Medical Association (EMA) regulatory body has updated their guidance to ensure faster approval of COVID-19 related drugs. Based on maturity level of the development, discussions to ensure early availability of drug or vaccine will be set up.
• FDA allows the use of MCMs during public health emergencies, and has allowed Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) approvals for nearly 140 products, including 76 in vitro diagnostic products, and 28 high complexity molecular-based laboratory developed tests.

The research methodology adopted for the report included:

• Experts with twenty years of domain experience
• Interaction with buyers
• Inputs from supply chain partners

Several of the top pharma companies around the world are in preclinical stages of researching treatments and vaccines. Sanofi is researching treatment and vaccine targeting Plaquenil, Novavax is researching vaccine targeting NVX-CoV2373, and GSK and Vir Biotechnology are researching vaccines targeting VIR-7831 and VIR-7832. Meanwhile, Sanofi and Translate Bio are researching vaccine targeting mRNA for COVID-19, Takeda Treatment is researching treatments for Anti-SARS-CoV-2 polyclonal hyperimmune globulin (H-IG), and J&J is researching vaccines targeting modified adenovirus.

The report also includes:

Market Analysis:

• Clinical Research
• Major Risk Factors
• Risk Probability
• Regulatory Support

Supplier Analysis:

• Top Players
• COVID-19 Measures
• Supplier Updates

Impact Analysis:

• Demand for In-Vivo Toxicology Suppliers
• Increase in Regional Approach 
• Increase in the Need for Biomarkers 
• Logistics of Samples 
• Investment in AI
• Other New Technologies

About Beroe Inc.:

Beroe is the world's leading provider of procurement intelligence and supplier compliance solutions. We provide critical market information and analysis that enables companies to make smart sourcing decisions—leading to lower costs, greater profits and reduced risk. Beroe has been providing these services for more than 13 years and currently works with more than 10,000 companies worldwide, including 400 of the Fortune 500 companies.

To learn more about Beroe Inc., please visit: http://www.beroeinc.com

Media Contact:
Rob McMurtrie
rob.mcmurtrie@beroe-inc.com