CROs included in clinical trials fast track
pharmafile | November 2, 2007 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â Â
Efforts to cut unnecessary delays to UK clinical trials have taken a step forward with a new agreement to help Contract Research Organisations work more quickly with the NHS.
Contract Research Organisations (CROs) are used by many pharmaceutical companies to conduct trials on their behalf, but until now they have been excluded from UK initiatives to reduce red tape.
The government is keen to cut unnecessary delays to the clinical trials, in order to encourage more research to be carried out in the UK, which it hopes will benefit, patients, the NHS and the pharma industry alike.
The model Clinical Trial Agreement (mCTA) was first launched in 2003 and then updated in 2006, and provides a template contract to simplify collaborations between the industry and the NHS.
The scheme has proven helpful, and CROs will now be able to use a modified version, called the Contract Research Organisation model Clinical Trial Agreement (CROmCTA).
Professor Sally Davies, Director of General Research and Development at the Department of Health said: "This represents another important step in the development of the R&D partnership between the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry."
The agreement should help research managers in the NHS to implement the 'bureaucracy busting' agenda and give more NHS patients the chance to take part in clinical trials of new medicines across a range of disease areas.
The Department of Health has sought approval from the ABPI, the BIA, and the CCRA in its quest to accelerate the testing of new products and bring better care to patients.






