Despite some complaints from doctors about how contract research organizations operate in clinical trials, a new report finds the industry has been working to improve efficiency.
On Wednesday, Veeva Systems – a Pleasanton, California-based cloud computing firm focused on pharmaceutical and life sciences applications – released a report that found CROs are driving a trend toward unifying clinical systems and streamlining trial processes.
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In particular, more than three-quarters of CROs – nearly 80 percent – are taking steps to improve the start-up of clinical trials, which supports the finding that a growing number of CROs are making investments in technology to improve trial efficiency. Nearly half of survey respondents, 45 percent, said collaboration during study start-up continues to be an area of improvement. In a phone interview last month for a MedCity News report on physicians’ complaints about CROs, a New Orleans endocrinologist said that poor communication from the vendors frequently delays trial start-up, forcing timelines to be pushed back.
The survey included approximately 280,000 individuals and initiated 2,702 surveys. More than 280 unverified responses were eliminated, yielding 331 qualified responses. Of the responses, 18 percent – 58 in total – came from CROs, while 70 percent came from sponsors, and 12 percent came from consultants. Meanwhile, 82 percent of respondents were in the US, while 10 percent were in the European Union, and 8 percent were elsewhere.
According to the Oct. 23 MedCity News report, several physicians, including the endocrinologist, cited issues like poor communication and what they viewed as busywork that interfered with their ability to conduct various functions associated with clinical trials. Although some CRO industry experts and a physician disputed how widespread the issues raised were, according to the Veeva survey, 81 percent of respondents cited clinical trial management system issues as a limiting factor. For example, most CROs have CTMS applications that unable to support important functions like investigator relationship management, governance and oversight and study metrics and reporting.
More than half of CROs see improving CTMS systems and processes as a way to improve study analytics and reporting and enhance visibility to effectively manage and optimize trials.
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