Current State Of Trial Opportunity And Selection

Communication between all stakeholders from the very beginning of a clinical trial is key to ensuring clinical research can run efficiently. From the time a sponsor decides to conduct a trial, they must make numerous decisions quickly to maximize the ability to bring new treatments to market in a timely and cost-effective manner. One of the very first things to determine is which sites will conduct the study.

Much of the current literature regarding clinical trial startup is in the process of gaining institutional review board (IRB) approval, conducting training, and setting up clinics. However, the startup process begins long before this with the site selection process. At Advarra, we’ve heard from numerous sponsors, contract research organizations (CROs), and sites saying the same thing: This process is fraught with pain points, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities.

While there are many resources addressing this topic, very little is addressed to both sites and sponsors. To investigate collective solutions, Advarra conducted a survey in early Summer 2022. This survey sought to gain insights into the site selection process sponsors undergo and the information sites provide as part of site feasibility questionnaire completion. Here we provide key survey findings.