Monetary benefits for volunteers
According to the respondents, some CROs do provide monetary incentives to participate in clinical trials. However, as many as 59 percent of the CROs surveyed across APAC said they provided monetary benefits, while 41 percent said they did not offer any money. Of the 59 percent who offer monetary incentives, 46 percent offer incentives amounting to less than $50, 36 percent offer incentives upto $100 and 18 percent pay volunteers upwards of $100.

Whats in store for CROs in APAC in the near future?
When assessing the key potential trends over the next three years for the APAC market, the 4th BioSpectrum-CMR Asia Pacific Annual Survey of the clinical and contract research organizations 2012 reveals that 23 percent of the respondents were confident about increasing business contracts. As many as 19 percent were optimistic about an increase in strategic partnerships with biopharma, while 13 percent of the respondents felt niche CROs will proliferate.
What is the business outlook of CROs over the next 3 years?

Survey respondents of this year attributed multiple reasons for their optimism about APAC market opportunities over the next three years, such as availability of experienced CROs, shrinking R&D pipeline of the biopharma segment, increasing R&D investment by the biopharma in strategic collaborations and cost pressures encouraging R&D outsourcing. The survey also revealed that outsourcing to Asia is increasingly moving from a tactical to a strategic imperative building upon the experience and rich expertise available in the APAC region.

As the biopharma segment's development pipelines continue to shrink and come under pressure, APAC will move from being just another market to becoming the central hub of novel drug discovery. As more and more biopharma companies shift their Asia headquarters to China, Chinese CROs are gearing up and adding more emphasis and importance to novel drug development. The Chinese authorities are proactively addressing the regulatory hurdles, while their 12th Five Year Plan has focused on healthcare and pharmaceutical innovation.

As many as 82 percent of the survey respondents indicated that the APAC market will consolidate. The results are on similar lines as the past year. Only 18 percent respondents indicated that the market will remain the same. Some of the survey respondents expect an increase in clinical trial activities over the next three years across phase I-to-IV. According to some respondents, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea are fast emerging as the future hubs of choice for strategic outsourcing.