ClearTrial says SCOS helps trial planning for smaller firms
Although there is no such thing as a typical clinical trial, it is undeniable that efficiency and value for money are always among the top priorities for study sponsors and drug developers.
And, while this is true for all sizes of pharma firm, for smaller companies the need to guarantee spending efficiency through effective management is particularly important, sometimes even impacting on a company's survival.
However, according to ClearTrial VP of marketing and product management Andrew Grygiel, such developers often lack the additional resources necessary for effective planning.
Grygiel told Outsourcing-pharma that: “Historically understaffed by comparison with their larger cousins, small biotechs are more receptive to extending their clinical teams with outsourced services.”
He said the SCOS offering, which was developed to meet this need, “lets small biotechs quickly and accurately determine costs, budgets, schedules and resources for their clinical trials, without adding additional personnel.”
Grygiel explained that, in addition to ClearTrial’s software, SCOS provides a services manager who will work with customers to understand the aims of the proposed study and develop multiple scenarios.
This information, Grygiel continued, is used by ClearTrial to conduct “what if” analysis that can cut study costs and timelines, citing the firm’s recent work on a Phase II trial which saved the US biotech in question $1.5m as an example.
He added that, in the numerous pilot studies used to develop the service, these “what if” forecasts have proved to be accurate to within 1 to 5 per cent when compared with actual study costs.
