With more than two decades in the industry under his belt, Jeffrey Trotter had his own contract research organization (CRO) for more than a decade. He sold it—twice. And now he's helping to shepherd the late-phase strategy at PharmaNet Development Group, where his title is executive VP, Phase IV development. He supervises a 50-person group dedicated to…more...

This reporter is always disheartened when lawyers are ridiculed. Lately, we've been saddened by the news that a few law schools, just trying to help graduates find employment, have unilaterally granted all their students better grades. A formula here, a few computer key strokes there—and bingo! All of the lawyers just got smarter. Elastic metrics are not…more...

Five years ago, when Christine Pierre attempted to bring together clinical investigators and other site leaders to casually discuss their best practices, it didn't go as she'd hoped. She sent out 1,000 invitations. Representatives from ten sites showed up. “In all honesty, it was a huge failure,” says Pierre, president of Baltimore area-based RxTrials, a 16-year-old site…more...

Quintiles has shifted its prime sites program into high gear. A bit more than two years ago, the contract research organization (CRO) had just one site designated as prime, meaning it had reached the top of the heap as a voluminous and consistent source of patients with a healthy smattering of investigators across a variety of therapeutic…more...

In a collegial industry, all clinical trial suppliers must work intimately with rivals. No matter how large or small a competitor may be, professionalism requires putting aside emotions of wariness or distrust. It's hard enough to get the science right, obey the law and finish the study. But tensions between large and small firms are rising in…more...

Their union didn't start out as a particularly award-winning one. The contract research organization (CRO) Quintiles and Brussels-based Solvay Pharmaceuticals came together eight years ago and agreed to a functional service provider relationship, with Quintiles taking over Solvay's trial operations. And like many marriages, it went along fine. Nothing spectacular; just…fine. A few buzzwords and business catch…more...

As with caterpillars and butterflies, there has been a metamorphosis in attitudes to technology inside the contract research organization (CRO) industry. In the first stage, CRO representatives stood up at conferences and said, more or less: Technology? Huh? Now? Why? In the wake of an intriguing ediary partnership between Quintiles and invivodata, at least one big CRO…more...

The contract research organization (CRO) Medpace has been getting good reviews lately. Last spring, the Cincinnati-based firm made our list of the Top 12 Master Providers (CROs and technology companies that serve the space), becoming only one of three private CROs to do so. In June, Medpace was voted the best CRO by investigational sites polled by…more...