Quintiles, Abbott Signed
Phase Forward: Steady Growth
Another strong quarter from Phase Forward, and a clue about a new product. Our exclusive interview.
Purveyors of clinical trial happy talk would have the industry believe that every clinical trial is an alliance of organizations with the permanence and seriousness of NATO—that every outsourcing engagement is a marriage of equals. Think again, says Joseph Anderson, principal associate of Waife & Associates. The Boston-area clinical trial consultancy specializes in process change and is not one to use jargon or faddish language. We last wrote about the firm here. Anderson says the outsourcing shift was originally rooted in the desire to minimize the fluctuations in human manpower needed at various stages of the research process. But right from the start, he notes, there was unhappiness at the way services were provided inside research-driven firms. When outsiders offered the same services, it was enticing and alluring. “There was an internal dissatisfaction with services being offered by internal departments,” Anderson told the annual meeting of the Society for Clinical Data…more...
