Wu Xiaoying, consulting services lead partner at Ernst & Young Greater China,
says new contract wins and backlog at CROs have both shown clear improvement.
Some preclinical CROs posted high YoY growth in H1 new orders; clinical CROs are
seeing a recovery in new project volumes and new‑win pricing, indicating a
demand rebound. She said if innovative drug R&D spending remains as active as
now, this year could see the CRO industry move from order repair toward
profitability repair, though recovery timing will differ across business lines.
Wu added AI will widen gaps between CROs: by speeding candidate generation and
screening in discovery, AI raises the value of faster, higher‑quality
experimental validation—firms that rapidly weed out false leads and advance
truly promising molecules will be more likely to secure high‑value projects.
