While the company may have experience in your study’s therapeutic area, the actual people who are managing your study may not—and this difference is critical.

If you’re considering selecting a big name CRO, remember that the “A” team has little to no involvement in a smaller study’s operations or success—that team is reserved for large pharmaceutical companies with whom a large portion of the CRO’s revenue is generated.

Without a doubt, “A team” members and “niche experts” are huge selling points.

But just because you meet them in a sales pitch doesn’t mean you’ll be able to reap the benefits of having access to one. Be sure to ask directly: “How is this person going to be involved in study operations?”

Fan of surprises? What about surprise costs?

Unfortunately, certain large CROs are often notorious for tacking on fees for services you didn’t know you had agreed to, after they’ve already been completed.

Yes: certain factors sometimes arise during a study that require an expansion of the current scope of work. But ANY changes that may affect cost (or timelines) should be fully and openly discussed between teams.

Large, big name CROs get more excited about large studies and huge drug development deals. This leaves smaller trials and clients feeling “lost in the shuffle.”

Sponsors may notice timelines and budget start to grow without explanation from their CRO as they’re repeatedly pushed to the back of the line.

Additionally, large CROs will not have the same flexibility that small to mid size CROs hold. If something unexpected arises, expect delays. A big box provider will likely have layers of middle men to go through before meaningful solutions can be internally approved, much less initiated.

Exploring Standard CRO Timeline Benchmarks

Preparing to work with a top biometrics contract research organization and wondering how their promised data management, biostatistics, and medical writing timelines match up to the industry average? To help sponsors dig into these details and ensure the timelines they’re receiving are competitive, we’re providing PharPoint’s typical timelines alongside research that calculates industry standard timelines, when available.

Our hope is that this document can help sponsors set realistic expectations, confidently ask the right questions of their vendors, and ultimately, partner with a top biometrics CRO that keeps their study moving: because patients are waiting.

eBook contents include:

PharPoint’s short eBook, Standard Clinical Trial Timelines: A Sponsor’s Guide to Evaluating Biometrics CROs, includes the below information.

• Standard database build timeline
  • The bigger picture: Considering site identification and study start-up
• Standard mid-study database change timeline
• Standard database lock time
  • Six strategies for a faster database lock
• Evaluating database lock to top line results timeline
  • Ensuring a rapid delivery
• Evaluating database lock to delivery of tables, listings, and figures (TLF) timeline
• Standard clinical study report delivery timeline
• About PharPoint Research