Some may view this as a bit of surprise - 52 percent of companies plan to boost their outsourcing spend by 6 percent or more, compared with 62 percent last year, according to Contract Pharma, which surveyed more than 175 R&D, quality control, regulatory affairs and clinical research heads, among others.

Last year, 22 percent of total respondents believed that they’d spend the same or less on outsourcing in the coming year; this year, that number dropped to 16 percent. Last year, 30 percent of respondents reported they’d increase outsourcing spending by 10 percent or more in the coming year; that number dropped to 23 percent this time around.

However, the percentage of respondents who believe that their outsourcing expenditure will increase from 1 percent to 5 percent from the previous year nearly doubled, from 17 percent in the previous survey to 32 percent this time around. The portion who will increase outsourcing spending from 6 percent to 10 percent in the coming year was nearly steady, dropping from 32 percent to 29 percent.

Look here and follow the quick instructions to glimpse the survey. Meanwhile, here’s a breakdown of respondents by company type:

Small/Mid-Tier Pharma - 25.7 percent;
Big Pharma - 23.6 percent;
Virtual Pharma - 12.1 percent;
Generic Pharma - 12.1 percent;
Emerging Biopharma - 10 percent;
Specialty Pharma - 5.7 percent;
Big Bio - 3.6 percent;
Other - 7.1 percent.