Sponsors Want Therapeutic Experience

On several occasions each year, Industry Standard Research (ISR) has the opportunity to speak with sponsor companies about their outsourcing practices. One common topic is CRO selection. Almost invariably sponsors tell us that Therapeutic Expertise is the single most important criterion for selecting a partner for clinical research. In a recent study, however, we also decided to ask which attributes were becoming more important in their selection of service providers.

ISR's data show that not only is Therapeutic Expertise important in today's environment, it is becoming increasingly so; and if our sample is any indication, Oncology and CNS are the areas of focus.

Requirements Evolve for Service Providers

But here's the real news—and the challenge for CROs—sponsors indicate that they want this additional expertise at lower costs. Alongside Therapeutic Expertise, Low Cost is expected to surge as a significant driver of CRO selection. This finding is new in our research. Historically, low cost has shown up 4th or 5th among selection drivers behind characteristics such as Project Manager Quality and Project Team Chemistry, but this appears to be changing.

As sponsors sharpen their pencils, the pressure will increase on CROs to demonstrate value like never before.—Industry Standard Research, www.ISRreports.com