Icon allies with MA academic group to add trial expertise

11-May-2011 - Last updated on 12-May-2011 at 10:04 GMT

Icon has allied with Boston Clinical Research Institute (BCRI) to access expertise sponsors increasingly want CROs to have.

Evolution of the relationship between sponsors and contract research organisations (CRO) is placing greater emphasis on expertise. To tap into study design expertise Icon has formed a strategic alliance with the Massachusetts-based academic research organisation (ARO).

“The future of pharmaceutical drug development will feature closer ties to academia”, Alan Morgan, president of clinical research service at Icon, told Outsourcing-Pharma in a recent interview.

BCRI provides scientific consultancy on study design and has a network of global investigators in all medical specialities and subspecialties. “Anticipated benefits include enhanced planning, design, site selection and enrolment performance”, said Peter Gray, CEO of Icon.

“We believe that the future of clinical research is collaboration between the ARO and the CRO. Icon clearly recognises the incremental benefits of collaboration with thought leaders…to optimise study planning, execution, and credibility”, said Michael Gibson, founder of BCRI.

Partnership discussions between Icon and other academic groups are ongoing, said Morgan. Adding external expertise to in-house capabilities will help CROs as strategic partnerships bring them closer to sponsors’ drug development pipelines.

Intellectual horsepower

During a recent visit to Icon’s Phase I facility in Manchester, UK, Cyril Clarke, vice president of translational medicine at the CRO, explained why links to experts in academia are increasingly important.

“The commercial battle ground of the future will be based on intellectual horsepower”, Clarke told Outsourcing-Pharma. As sponsors look to “outsource thinking” CROs will need a network of experts to meet their needs while keeping fixed costs under control.

In Manchester Icon is part of a therapeutic capability cluster. Ian Bruce, a professor at the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC), told Outsourcing-Pharma the cluster brings together industry and academia to support quick and effective early phase research.