According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research, the global pharmacovigilance market was valued at $2,147.3 million in 2012 and is estimated to reach a market worth $5,008.2 million in 2019, at a CAGR of 12.9% from 2013 to 2019.

Rising regulatory concerns, public safety issues, a tough inspection regime and the instant need of patient reporting has provided the impetus for the pharmacovigilance market. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), pharmacovigilance is defined as the science and activities involved in the detection, assessment, monitoring and evaluation of adverse events or any drug-related problems of the medicinal products. The main objective of pharmacovigilance is the safer administration of medicinal products, which is attained through awareness of precise, timely and relevant clinical safety information.

The rapid growth of the global pharmaceutical industry has resulted in innovation in the number of medicinal products that can treat, cure and prevent various disorders. To evade the accompanying adverse events, early detection of adverse drug reactions in clinical trials and active clinical phase IV or post-marketing surveillance is imperative.

Currently, all pharmaceutical companies are actively involved in the safety assessment and monitoring of medicinal products under clinical trials and also for marketed products. Until recently, the scope of drug safety reporting was restricted to assessment and monitoring of a very small number of medicinal products, but it has been extended to various products such as medical devices, traditional medicines, blood products and vaccines.

The guidelines for the appropriate implementation of drug safety reporting have been formulated by regulatory authorities such as the WHO and the FDA, who are aiding in enhancement of the overall pharmacovigilance activities.

The global market for pharmacovigilance services is segmented based on clinical trial phases, service providers and methods used in drug safety reporting. Based on clinical trial phases, the market is categorized in to preclinical studies, phase I, II, III, IV or post-marketing surveillance services market. Among these, the market for clinical trial phase IV drug safety reporting accounts for the largest market share of 74.7% in 2012, valued to $1,604.8 million. This market is expected to lead the pharmacovigilance market till 2019.

Based on the type of service providers, in-house and contract, contract outsourcing pharmacovigilance services account for the largest market share of 50.8% in 2012 and is forecast to grow at a healthy growth rate of 15.5% from 2013 to 2019.

Geographically, North America constituted the largest market for global pharmacovigilance in 2012; however, Asia-Pacific is predicted to foresee the highest growth rate of 15.2% from 2013 to 2019. This growth has been attributed to a large population base, low healthcare cost and high patient enrollment.

According to Transparency Market Research, leading market players include Accenture, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Covance, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Icon, iGATE, Novartis International, Parexel International, PRA, PPD, Pfizer, Quintiles Transnational and Wipro.