By providing drug development services to the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical-devices industries, CROs enable their clients to manage product-development processes more efficiently and more cost effectively.

The global CRO market size is estimated at approximately £35 billion and continues to grow. Revenue increases at an annual rate of 14 to 16%.

According to an independent analyst, clinical trials carried out by CROs are completed thirty percent faster on average than clinical trials conducted in house. This results in an average time saving of 4 to 5 months, which equates to approximately £300 million in increased potential revenue.

CROs are of an international industry. Leading Clinical Research Organisations will be acquainted with the associated rules, regulations and good clinical practices in place in many countries.

Approximately 100 thousand clinical professionals are employed by the Clinical Research Organisation industry on a global scale. They adhere to the highest ethical standards, complying with the Good Clinical Practices (GCP) and Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) put in place by regulatory authorities. CROs provide clients with an unmatched resource, therapeutic and regulatory proficiency, clinical and non-clinical drug development experience and up-to-the-minute technology.

CROs take a flexible approach and offer a number of services including, protocol writing and CRF design, clinical trial design, regulatory applications, data management, laboratory, pharmacy etc. This enables CROs to provide single service components or a complete full-service solution to their clients’ clinical trial needs.

The Course of Drug Development

When new drug entities or medical devices are introduced into the market, this process can take up to twenty years and cost in the region of £2 billion. Various components are necessary for the associated research, product development and the early phase clinical trial, encompassing the sponsors’ staff as well as research associates, patients or volunteers and physicians. Information managers are required to maintain the flow of data between the sponsor and its researchers, as well as international regulatory bodies. Experts in health economics and other related areas will assess the market before the launch of a new chemical entity or medical device into the market.

TIP: An indicator of a good CRO is the specialist equipment and facilities like a ecg laboratory

This process is costly, intricate and longstanding and is broken into numerous stages. Pre-clinical research concerns the testing of new medical devices or drugs on animals and can last between 1 and 3 years. After this testing has proven to be safe and effective, human clinical trials can commence…