History records that after her husband was assassinated, someone asked Mrs. Abraham Lincoln about the theatrical production she had just seen. With all deference to Mrs. Lincoln, we are in a similarly stunned state of mind after talking to Kit Howard, principal of Kestrel Consultants. Based in Michigan, with a Canadian's calm demeanor, Howard speaks in methodical,…more...

As the industry scrambles to find the patients it needs outside the U.S., the organizers of the 2010 annual Drug Information Association (DIA) in Washington, D.C. decided to assemble the sort of luminary-packed panel discussions that only the DIA can present. The session on multi-regional trials began with Doug Peddicord, executive director of the Association of Clinical…more...

The 2010 annual Drug Information Association meeting began with a new dual-element musical interlude. The first composition amounted to elevator music, by an anonymous band inspired by the hard rock of Van Halen. The purpose of that aural interlude? To inspire and energize. The second musical offering at DIA, a live string quartet (performers on stage with…more...

"The industry has bottomed out and is on its way up," says Norman Goldfarb, chairman of the Model Agreement Group Initiative (MAGI), a volunteer organization dedicated to streamlining clinical research. Twice a year, on the east and west coasts respectively, Goldfarb helps to plan the MAGI conference. For 2010, the eastern conference is scheduled for the last…more...

Which organizations are running the biggest, most complex portfolios of clinical trials in 2010? To find out, ClinPage analyzed the listings in ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. government's database of more than 80,000 research projects. Our exclusive list of the 50 largest ongoing studies is below. The list is a magnificently global one. Many of the top organizations tend…more...

A successful stand-alone investigator site—one not affiliated with an academic institution, a hospital or any other sites—is a rarity in clinical research. Most sites that try independence find that they can't find a steady flow of studies. Palm Beach Research Center is an exception. The 15-year-old, 25-employee investigator site chugs along with many Phase II and III…more...

The corporate parent of contract research organization (CRO) Chiltern bought MDS Pharma's central labs. Last week, private investment group Czura Thornton agreed to pay $8 million for the labs and an additional $4 million later if performance thresholds are met. The sale is part of Canadian conglomerate MDS Inc.'s continued selling of clinical assets, including MDS Pharma…more...

Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. Dogs do it. Frogs do it. Logs do it. (At least as long as they are part of the tree.) Companies do it. Even ones like GM, even if they have to be forced. Moving forward, I mean. Evolving. Keeping things that work and discarding things…more...