inVentiv Joins ACRES Clinical Trial Consortium

inVentiv Clinical Trial Recruitment Solutions (iCTRS) announced in a press release that it has joined ACRES clinical trial consortium. The Alliance for Clinical Research Excellence and Safety (ACRES) is a non-profit that announced in May 2014 that it was building a coalition and creating an integrated information-management platform for clinical research. iCTRS, part of inVentiv Health, is partnering with ACRES to help develop a global system of clinical trials that improves safety, quality and efficiency. Dr. Greg Koski, President and CEO of ACRES, said, “inVentiv Health, with their extensive network of biopharmaceutical service companies worldwide, shares our vision of raising the standard of excellence.”

ACRES and inVentiv Partnership

inVentiv joins a roster of industry and academics associated with ACRES including HealthCarePoint, ViS Research, and SAFE-BioPharma Association. iCTRS adds clinical experience and global reach to the collaborative effort, as well as information strategies for clinical trials. inVentiv’s Otis Johnson will join the ACRES’ Site Optics and Quality Informatics (SOQI) Steering Committee. Mr. Johnson said, “Together we’ll promote new standards worldwide by creating awareness, building strategic industry alliances, and raising the bar for clinical research sites.”

ACRES states that $20 billion annually is wasted in the clinical trial industry and numerous other challenges limit progress. It says that third-party accreditation of clinical sites is needed as is interconnectivity among investigators and sites. ACRES says that global standards in identifying, assessing, and accrediting sites will drive costs down and improve long-term sustainability. inVentiv will aid ACRES in developing performance metrics, practices and guidelines, and global standards with its data-driven informatics and patient-centric approach.

ACRES Integrated IT Platform

ACRES is a neutral entity that brings together the stakeholders in drug discovery. It gains funding for its effort from consortium members. In 2015, ACRES estimates that it will spend $10 million on developing and implementing its integrated information technology (IT) platform. Consortium members are rewarded for their sponsorship with immediate access to the platform at discounted rates.

ACRES states that global standards are necessary considering that more clinical research is being conducted in areas such as Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Latin America. ACRES, inVentiv, and consortium members intend to use existing technologies to construct the IT platform that allows investigators to share information such as site capabilities, study documents, and analytics. The platform will be CDISC-compliant and digitally secure.