The Impact Of Clinical Trial Payments On Site-Sponsor Relationships

By Jim DiCesare, IQVIA Clinical Trial Payments

The sponsor-site relationship relies on good faith, but late payments sow mistrust. Sponsors that consolidate their payment systems in an enterprise strategy, rather than a trial-by-trial approach that varies by contract research organization (CRO) or study, improve their workflow and relationship with sites.

George Kourtsounis of Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and Casey Orvin of CenExel Clinical Research recently discussed how payment systems affect sponsor-site relationships in the recorded webinar, Trends in Sponsor-of-Choice Initiatives: Consolidating Site Payments in a Multiple CRO Model.

BMS sponsors clinical trials across the globe, but their previous site payments model was segmented according to geography, CRO, or acquisition. When BMS turned to IQVIA Clinical Trial Payments to consolidate its system, its relationship with sites improved.

Orvin confirmed that BMS was one of the first companies to react to the pandemic to improve site payments and create better site financial stability. He stated that two-thirds of sites have less than three months of operating cash, so timely installments are critical to running their business.