With a situation like the Coronavirus pandemic and the lack of a vaccine wreaking havoc in the world, everyone has clearly understood the need for faster clinical trials. Furthermore, it has also shown biopharma companies the importance of partnering with a robust Contract Research Organizations that has the ability to produce faster results.
While choosing a Contract Research Organization, you should consider multiple parameters like the cost, quality, capability, experience and so on. To help you out, here are the five golden standards on the basis of which you should choose a CRO:
Capabilities on offer
Even though it might sound like a basic standard point, it is crucial that you identify the capabilities of the CRO on offer. The services provided by them should be in alignment with the technical demands of your study.
Furthermore, you should also ensure that the quality provided at all their sites is top-notch. All the methods used in the trials should be validated by the authorities so that you can be rest assured with your project being in safe hands.
Efficiency of the Quality Assurance team
For a task as serious and important as a clinical trial, it is absolutely necessary that the CRO has an efficient Quality Assurance (QA) team in place. They should have certifications from the concerned authorities regarding the potency of the QA team and their practices. Feel free to review them.
The aim should be to partner with a Contract Research Organization whose data you can rely on. The QA and monitoring of the data should be directly in compliance with other regulations so that the team in charge can be held accountable if there are any discrepancies.
Experience in the field
Unlike many industries and professions, experience always does not bring efficiency in clinical trials. Therefore, you must always ask for credentials of the researchers and scientists involved in the project to get a better understanding of their ability.
Experience does matter but mostly when the results of the clinical trials were successful. You must ensure that the team proposed to work on your project have past experience in the same field with multiple successful trials.
Moreover, you should feel free to ask for references or past records from the CRO to get an idea about their past works. If a CRO declines to share such information, then it should be considered as a red flag as no reputed CRO will ever be hesitant in sharing at least one or two references.
Cost of the services
When it comes to cost, you should not get lured by low quotes or bids as you must look at the bigger picture. Budget-friendly bids may not account for all study specifications and possibilities, leading to you paying a lot more in the end in the name of unexpected events and overhead charges. So, you should ideally look out for the quality of the services and not select a CRO solely based on the price they quote.
If you feel the cost of the project is too big for you, one thing you can do is to ask for an arrangement where you make payments based on milestones. This way, you not only get relief from paying the whole amount in one go but also improves the accountability from the side of CRO. Therefore, make sure that you partner with Contract Research Organization like Jubilant Biosys that are flexible enough to make such adjustments.
Communication and maintenance of partnership
One of the biggest issues faced by sponsors is the lack of communication between them and the CRO team. A good Preclinical CRO should be transparent with their operations, be it procurement of volunteers, data collection and management, business development or anything else. In fact, they should make a conscious effort to maintain a good relationship with you and keep you in loop with all major decisions.
A healthy relationship between sponsors and the Contract Research Organization you work with is in many ways the cornerstone of a successful clinical trial.
Now that you know the standards upon which you should measure the efficiency of a CRO, you should be able to find the right fit for you.
