The Trends Shaping Clinical Trial Supply In 2025 And Beyond

By Priyanka Bhendale, MarketsandMarkets

The clinical trial supply chain is experiencing its most profound transformation in a decade. The increasing number of decentralized trials, personalized medicines, and growing global patient recruitment increased pressure on clinical trial supply leaders to deliver speed, precision, and compliance in this volatile environment. The shift to patient-centric supply from site-centric supply, the growth of temperature-sensitive products, and increasingly complex regulatory pathways force sponsors and CROs to reappraise traditional models. Going forward, success is now dependent upon real-time visibility, digital intelligence, and robust networks capable of supporting high-variability protocols across diverse geographies. We have spotlighted the most influential trends shaping trends in the clinical trial supply landscape below, informed by current industry research and global thought leadership.

The Technology Ecosystem Enabling The Future Of Global And Decentralized Trials

The clinical trial supply ecosystem is rapidly evolving, driven by emerging digital and automation technologies that can significantly improve visibility, control, and compliance across global operations. The introduction of key technologies, like serialization and track-and-trace systems, has provided a way for sponsors to ensure product authentication throughout the entire process; to fight counterfeit products; and to meet increasingly stringent regulatory standards. In addition, interactive response technologies (IRT, IVR, IWR) have been integral to randomization, drug assignment, and inventory management, reducing the number of manual errors and allowing for adaptive trial designs. Cold chain and temperature monitoring solutions are now crucial for maintaining oversight of biologics, cell and gene therapies, and other temperature-sensitive products via real-time sensor information and cloud-connected dashboard solutions.

Complementary and adjacent technologies are amplifying these core capabilities, creating a more predictive, automated, and resilient supply chain. The increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) provides a more predictable, automated, and robust supply chain, along with blockchain, that increases transparency and maintains data security between multiple supply chain partners. Also, adjacent innovations (such as cryopreservation, advanced storage technologies to meet the needs of next-generation therapies, and robotic technology within warehousing/distribution) are being used to enhance throughput and reduce errors by humans. Together as a technology platform, these innovations will enable the contracting organizations and sponsors to manage the increasing operational complexity being created by the development and use of multinational and decentralized clinical trials while providing speed, reliability, and improved patient safety.

A Look At Trends Of Specific Clinical Trial Supply Services

In terms of our market research, we categorize clinical trial supplies services into the following distinct categories:

• logistics & distribution,
• storage & retention,
• packaging, labeling, and blinding,
• manufacturing,
• comparator sourcing, and
• other services.

As clinical trials continue to become more globalized and decentralized, the need for logistics and distribution services continues to increase as they see an increased need for direct-to-patient deliveries, fast small-volume shipments, and real-time tracking associated with temperature control. Further, with the increasing use of biologics and advanced therapies, there is a need to use temperature-controlled transportation with stronger chain of custody processes. Sponsors are increasingly using specialized logistics partners to handle cross-border complexities and help to reduce timelines and guarantee product integrity, thus driving continued growth in this segment.

Additionally, comparator sourcing has grown to become the fastest-growing category of services due to the growing number of head-to-head comparisons of drugs, combination therapy study populations, and competitive benchmarking needs across various areas, including oncology, neurology, immunology, and rare diseases. It is increasingly difficult to find and obtain genuine and compliant comparators due to the global shortage of products, pricing disparities between regions, and the need for stringent documentation. Sponsors are therefore increasingly using specialized sourcing partners for access to authenticated products, risk management of product supply, and compliance. This trend, in combination with the growing pipelines of new biologics, continues to drive demand for comparator sourcing services.

Innovation In Biologic Drug Modalities Drives New Clinical Supply Priorities

Perhaps unsurprisingly, biologics companies are the fastest-growing segment of the industry using more clinical trial supply services, driven by the increase in cell and gene therapies, immunotherapies, monoclonal antibody (mAb) development, and personalized medicine. Biologics have unique supply chain needs associated with ultra-cold storage, temperature-controlled shipping, an advanced chain of custody, and smaller batches at the patient level. Many sponsors do not have all these capabilities in place; therefore, as many biopharma pipelines shift from legacy product types to high-value, personalized, or immunotherapy-based products, there is an increase in outsourcing these complex clinical supply chain requirements.

Leading Global Players Shaping The Clinical Trial Supplies Ecosystem

Companies such as Lonza, Catalent, and Samsung Biologics now play a central role in supporting clinical trials by providing true end-to-end supply solutions. Their integrated offerings spanning formulation, fill/finish, packaging, storage, and global distribution allow sponsors to simplify complex supply chains, accelerate study start-up, and maintain consistent product availability across geographies. WuXi Biologics is another strong example: its recent facility expansions across the U.S., Europe, and China have strengthened its global footprint, enabling pharma companies to scale clinical-stage manufacturing more efficiently and manage multi-regional trials with greater reliability.

Additional key players are:

• Almac Group (U.K.),
• Biocair (U.K.),
• Eurofins Scientific (France),
• Marken (a UPS company, U.S.),
• Novo Holdings A/S (Denmark),
• Parexel International (U.S.),
• PCI Pharma Services (U.S.),
• Piramal Pharma Solutions (India),
• PRA Health Sciences (U.S.),
• Sharp Services (U.S.), and
• Thermo Fisher Scientific (U.S.).

Recent initiatives demonstrate the industry's focus on enhancing supply chain resilience, improving decentralization capabilities, and supporting the growing number of multi-country and late-stage clinical trials:

• In July 2024, Catalent (acquired by Novo Holdings) invested $25 million in expanding its clinical supply facility in Schorndorf, Germany, providing comprehensive clinical supply services, including packaging, storage, and distribution.
• In September 2024, PCI Pharma invested $365 million in expanding the clinical and establishing a new Center of Excellence for advanced drug delivery and drug-device combination product assembly and packaging in Rockford, Illinois.
• In January 2025, Ancillare (U.S.) announced the launch of Cold Chain Management services for clinical trial supplies. The upgraded service covers end-to-end cold-chain logistics, including sourcing, storage, temperature-controlled packaging and transportation, expiry monitoring, customs clearance, and inventory management.
• In March 2025, Icon PLC (Ireland) and Mural Health Technologies Inc. (U.S.) partnered to enhance participant and site experience in clinical trials.
• In September 2025, Science 37 (U.S.) and Catalent (U.S.) announced a partnership to enable delivery of investigational medicinal products (IMPs) directly to patients’ homes, thereby supporting Science 37’s Direct-to-Patient clinical trial site model. Under this collaboration, Catalent will provide logistics and shipping services to ensure the secure distribution of study medications across geographies.

For market players, our latest research indicates that the clinical trial supplies market, spanning manufacturing to packaging, comparator sourcing, distribution, and long-term storage, was valued at $4.85 billion in 2024. With accelerating biopharma innovation, decentralized trial models, integration of digital technologies, and growing demand for complex and temperature-sensitive therapies (personalized medicines & biologics), the market is on track to reach $8.18 billion by 2030, growing at CAGR of 8.9% during the forecast period (2025-2030).

Key Takeaways And Thoughts For 2026 And Beyond

Conclusively, the clinical trial supplies industry is experiencing a robust transition led by the expansion of drug development activities into new therapy areas, decentralized models, and geographies. There is heavy dependence of sponsors on specific supply partners to manage increased operational complexities, including sourcing comparator products, coordinating a multi-country supply chain, and supporting highly regulated supply chains associated with advanced therapies. Sponsors are increasingly moving to third-party supply partners that provide advanced technology solutions, such as AI-based systems, real-time tracking of supplies, tracking and tracing of product serialization, robotic systems for supply chain operations, and blockchain-enabled transparency into the movement of product throughout the supply chain. With service providers broadening their capabilities, such as enhanced supply resilience, assured compliance, and patient-centric trial delivery models support through partnerships, investments, and strategic initiatives, the industry is steadily moving toward more connected and adaptive supply solutions. These developments collectively position clinical trial supply networks to better support future research needs, improve reliability, and enable more efficient delivery of investigational products to participants worldwide.

About The Author:

Priyanka Bhendale is assistant manager of healthcare market research & consulting at MarketsandMarkets with 10+ years of experience across the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, bioprocessing, and medical device sectors. She specializes in market sizing and forecasting, competitive intelligence, opportunity assessment, and end-user perception analysis. At MarketsandMarkets, she has led projects across bioprocessing technologies, cell culture systems, and contract research and manufacturing, delivering data-driven insights that support market entry and growth strategies. She has strong expertise in both qualitative and quantitative research.