Revisiting Clinical Grant Expenditures

As site costs continue to increase in the more traditional areas for clinical research, a growing number of CRO's and sponsors are using sites in areas such as Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe according to GrantPlan. The demand for less expensive markets have increased as sponsors and CRO's reach toward less expensive regions in which to conduct clinical trials. Lower costs will never be the decisive consideration in selecting a site, however, substantial cost differences are becoming more important in the decision making process.

TTC, now a part of IMS, continues to provide annual current global data on the relative costs of clinical grants around the world using the GrantPlan database. The aggregate GrantPlan subscribers conduct nearly 80% of all commercial clinical trials around the world, with each sponsor company and CRO contributing the current costs of each clinical trial.

Mean cost per visit in Phase II-III clinical trials.

This year, the data shows the United States and the United Kingdom continues to be the most expensive countries for clinical grants. With low single digit growth in the established geographies, grant costs seem to have stabilized. Despite the increased demand, the newer geographies have experienced a slight decrease in the costs per visit of approximately 6% in Asia and a minimal increase in Latin America.