ACRES Non-Profit Builds Global Network Of Clinical Research Sites
By Cyndi Root
The Alliance for Clinical Research Excellence and Safety (ACRES) announced in a press release that it is building a coalition to create an integrated information-management platform for clinical research. Dr. Greg Koski, ACRES president, announced the project at the 17th International Conference on Pharmaceutical Medicine in Berlin.
David Loose, managing partner at Essex, an IT consulting firm in charge of the project, said, "The ACRES-convened consortium brings together existing, proven technologies to 'leap-frog' development and implementation of a much needed information platform, at a fraction of the time and cost required to do so from scratch."
ACRES Consortium
The ACRES consortium is multi-stakeholder, non-profit operation to build a global system to improve clinical research. Project coordinators include Essex Management, Dr. Stephen Rosenfeld of Quorum IRB and former CIO of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center, and Peter Schiemann, managing partner at quality management consulting firm Widler-Schiemann QMS. Strategic allies include HealthCarePoint, ViS Research, Forte Research Systems, ii4sm, Verified Clinical Trials, InnovoCommerce, CDISC, SAFE-BioPharma Association, and CareLex. Mollie Shields Uehling, CEO of SAFE-BioPharma Association, which provides digital signatures, said that creating a shared IT system would drive global standards and raise clinical trial efficiency and quality.
ACRES is seeking funding from its consortium members and other interested parties. ACRES estimates it will cost $10 million to fund the project in the next year, including development and implementation. Sponsors are rewarded with immediate access to the platform at discounted rates.
Integrated IT Platform
Since more clinical research is being conducted in Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, global standards are becoming even more important. The ACRES platform will use existing technologies to create an interface where professionals can share credentials, study documents, and site capabilities. Users will be able to access analytics and cloud-based tools to facilitate the workflow. The platform will be compliant with CDISC-compliant EDC clinical trial management systems for electronic data capture, along with digital security.
ACRES’ Site Accreditation Standards Initiative (SASI) is part of the ACRES platform. ACRES believes that uniform standards at clinical research sites will raise the quality level of trials, giving the results more credibility. Sponsors will save on cost and time and enhance regulatory success.