Is giving away electronic data capture (EDC) a viable strategy? Yes. Even as the top suppliers of EDC get even larger, some of the smaller providers are still prospering. A case in point is Akaza Research, which created the free OpenClinica solution and prospers by selling additional services and support. This week, the company released a new…more...

It's a great debate, and far from over. Some analysts predict the large contract research organizations (CRO) will eventually manage the bulk of industry-sponsored research. Others predict that mid-tier and specialty CROs will command a greater share of clinical trials as the giants struggle to take care of small customers as well as they pamper megaclients. Or…more...

Have contract research organizations (CRO) turned the corner? Is the current downturn about to pass? Those were the questions we put to Michael Martorelli, director, Fairmount Partners. Martorelli is a savvy Philadelphia-based observer of the CRO industry. By constitution, he is a plain-speaking and numbers-oriented guy who helps to find buyers and sellers for CROs; his firm…more...

Les Rose appreciates the complexity of calculating costs in clinical trials. Principal of PharmaVision Consulting, a small consulting firm, he has been helping to run trials for a few decades, both independently and at his own small contract research organization (CRO). Rose says sponsors have learned to be tolerant of delay, indulgent of budget overruns. "Lateness is…more...