In 2025, the CRO industry will face many challenges. In the cold winter of the industry, enterprises generally face problems such as difficulty in acquiring customers and price reductions, resulting in differentiated performance in various sub sectors. Leading companies such as Yao Ming, Taige, and Kanglong Huacheng have shown varying performances. Yao Ming's performance is relatively optimistic, while Taige and Kanglong Huacheng's performance has declined significantly, partly due to the impact of investment projects. CRO companies with narrow business scope, such as Medici and Zhaoyan New Drugs, are also facing difficulties, mainly due to factors such as a single customer base and declining service prices.
To cope with difficulties, CRO companies are actively transforming. On the one hand, companies are accelerating their business expansion, but there has been an increase in the cancellation of new orders, and some customers are facing difficulties in receiving payments. On the other hand, companies reduce costs through layoffs, adjusting employee structures, and other means, but at the same time increase investment in research and development talent to enhance competitiveness. However, the dual pressure of declining revenue and rising costs has led to a decline in performance for some companies.
Since 2025, the structure of the CRO industry has undergone changes. ADC and bispecific antibodies, cell and gene therapy, nuclear drugs, and other fields have become popular, and companies are expanding their presence around these areas. At the same time, the application of AI technology in the CRO field is gradually increasing, and companies such as Yingsi Intelligence and Kanglong Chemical are using AI to improve research and development efficiency and reduce costs.
Expanding into overseas markets has become a common goal for CRO companies. CRO companies in the preclinical stage actively expand their overseas markets based on their own advantages; However, CRO companies in the clinical stage face greater difficulties in going global, as they need to overcome various issues such as costs and local decision-making. For example, although Taige Pharmaceuticals has expanded overseas, its global market share is still relatively low.
In 2025, although the CRO industry faces many challenges, with the transformation of enterprises, the adjustment of business focus, and the application of AI technology, the industry is expected to usher in new development opportunities.
