Scrip’s Best CRO Award was given to Kendle, which was recognized for the critical role CROs play in drug development. “CROs have become an increasingly valuable and essential partner in the drug development process,” said Ian Schofield of Scrip World Pharmaceutical News. “The judges felt that Kendle’s success in building trust and solid working relationships, and its development of proactive and innovative strategies, made it the best CRO partner for the pharmaceutical industry.”

Kendle is the first recipient of the award, which was delivered in London on November 15. The Ohio company has apparently dropped the “International” from its name.

The press release about the award noted that Kendle and other entrants were evaluated on “performance across multiple categories including range of capabilities, exceeding sponsor expectations, ability to build solid long-term working relationships within biopharmaceutical companies, quality of data management and innovative strategies for regulatory guidance. In their deliberations, the judges looked at the range of services provided by the entrants, measures they have implemented to improve their performance or offer new services and the quality of their relationships with their customers.”

Kendle scored a major coup recently in hiring Sylva Collins, the architect of clinical data management systems at Novartis. Collins helped the Swiss company dive into electronic data capture. Here’s a snippet from the Kendle news release about her arrival:

“‘We are extremely pleased to welcome Dr. Collins to Kendle. Her forward thinking and proven leadership will keep Kendle’s Biometrics services at the forefront of the industry,’ said Christopher Bergen, President and Chief Operating Officer. ‘Her nearly three decades of experience in drug development and her extensive EDC experience will be significant assets as we continue to execute against our ‘Kendle 500’ global growth strategy.’ Sylva Collins will serve as vice president, global biometrics, Kendle said. Biometrics includes clinical data management, biostatistics and scientific programming. Collins will oversee Kendle’s data centers, which employ about 500, in the United States, Europe, Australia and Mexico. She’ll be based in Cincinnati and will serve on the company’s management committee. Prior to joining Kendle, Collins served as vice president of global advanced clinical systems and vice president of global electronic data management for Switzerland-based Novartis.”

At Novartis, many ClinPage readers will recall, Collins was a vigorous and charismatic advocate of home-grown electronic data capture (EDC) within large pharmaceutical companies. Collins had the support of her senior management and used it. She effected significant institutional changes that could not be pushed through at other companies. Collins said her program saved the company hundreds of millions of dollars.

In the 1990s, Collins believed, commercial suppliers of EDC were overpriced and immature. It’s far from clear how satisfied Novartis is today with its mostly open-source EDC solution. Some industry observers say Novartis has quietly been evaluating (or even using) alternative systems developed outside the company. Any EDC announcement by Novartis will be tricky: it could involve either a statement that its aging EDC system can meet the needs of 2006 or that its former strategy did not work.

At both Novartis and Bayer, her previous employer, Collins was one of the prime evangelists spurring the industry to consider how antiquated its data systems had become and to consider a digital future for clinical trials. Kendle’s hiring of Collins suggests the company will not be resting on its own technological laurels. It’s also a sign that all contract research firms may be starting to take technology more seriously.