NEW YORK (GBI Research), 19 June 2012 - The global economic recession has led to many pharma companies cutting their spending, but investments in technology could help to improve the efficiency of clinical trials, states a new report by healthcare experts GBI Research.
The new report* shows that eClinical trial solutions can increase the annual savings made by a medical research facility, as automated data processing improves functionality, security, compliance and costs within clinical trials.
Pharmaceutical companies are continually looking for better ways to reduce the time from the end-of-study to FDA submission. Delays in collecting, verifying and auditing the accuracy of data, and converting that data into the right format for statistical analysis, must therefore be addressed. As pharmaceutical companies and Clinical Research Organizations (CROs) manage increasing amounts of clinical information, ensuring data integrity and complying with industry standards becomes more important than ever, and minimizing the time between conducting a trial and producing finalized data set is crucial in speeding up the process of getting drugs to the FDA and the market.
GBI Research finds that eClinical trial solutions are widely adopted by pharmaceutical companies and CROs around the world due to the many advantages offered by the technology. Clinical Data Management Systems (CDMS), Electronic Data Capture (EDC), Clinical Trial Management Systems (CTMS), Electronic Patient Reported Outcomes (ePROs), Radio Frequency Identification Tags (RFIDs) and eDiaries all embody eClinical trial solutions, and the market is witnessing increasing innovation.
The growing complexity of clinical trials and an increased focus on accuracy and costs have brought several eClinical technologies into the market, as companies allocate special budgets to increase their annual savings.
EDC is the most commonly used method for capturing data electronically in clinical trials, replacing paper-based methods. EDC is set to witness huge growth in the next five years, and vendors are ready to take on complex issues in order to meet industry expectations.
However, a high dependence on traditional methods of capturing clinical trial data still holds some pharma companies from investing in eClinical trial solutions. Even with the phenomenal rise in demand, many companies are reluctant to embrace the technological age, for fear of problems caused by initial models. However, currently marketed products are less complex and more user friendly. In the long term future companies must adapt to eClinical technologies, else the overwhelming data volumes that clinical trials provide will cause various issues like loss of data, delays in approval processes and decline in overall Return on Investment (ROI).