'Tsunami' of automated payment need coming, Clinverse CEO

Currently, more than 85% of trial sites are paid using manual or in-house process, but as the need for CROs increases, so does the need for automated payments, says Clinverse's CEO.

It is believed that by 2020 nearly 80% of all clinical trials will be outsourced to CROs,” Jay Trepanier, Clinverse CEO told Outsourcing-Pharma.com, but in today’s clinical trials, up to 35% of time is spent on payments and reconciliations.

“Considering the above, and the fact that site satisfaction is crucial to the Sponsors and CROs, we believe that a tsunami is coming our way in terms of a market for our solution,” added Trepanier. 

In order to automate such payment processes, Bioclinica recently acquired Clinverse, expanding its offerings into the automated finical management technology solutions market for global clinical trials.

Both companies share the vision of using technology and innovation to drive growth as well as to provide more comprehensive options to automate the complexities around operational and financial management of the clinical trial process,” John Hubbard, President and CEO of Bioclinica, told us.

The complexities

Managing the multi-billion dollar investigator payment process has been a source of industry frustration for years,” explained Trepanier.

With an increased focus on global clinical trials, the payment process has only grown more complicated, as currency, exchange rates, foreign regulations, change orders, and taxes come into play.

These complexities have continued to require organizations to assign more people to manage and reconcile the payments, which has been a manual process for years,” added Trepanier.

Clinverse’s solutions automate the majority of these processes and eliminate the need for reconciliation. Additionally, it allows clients to re-purpose much of their staff that had been previously assigned to manually managing the process.

This is a natural addition to the Bioclinica specialty clinical services model, providing clarity and insight into the financial aspects of conducting pharmaceutical research,” explained Hubbard.

“[The] focus on advancing trials through technology makes it a perfect fit for Clinverse, and will offer exciting new opportunities for customers as we explore synergies with our new associates.”

The partnership

Trepanier believes the partnership will enforce the Cliniverse’s ability to meet market demand, in addition to accelerating its operational scalability growth and investment into their product roadmap.

We have very high expectations and plan on being the clear vendor and platform of choice in the highly untapped, growing market of investigator payments and financial services within the clinical trial industry,” he added.

According to Hubbard, Bioclinica’s capabilities will also strengthen Clinverse’s “go-to-market strategy” by further extending Bioclinica’s presence globally as well as into Cliniverse’s customer base.

Hubbard added: “By joining Bioclinica, Clinverse will become part of a unique organization that is committed to improving the development of new medical therapies by delivering expertise and technologies that enhance clinical research.”