Improving Pharma R&D efficiency

The case for a holistic approach to transforming clinical trials

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improving pharma R&D efficiency

ICON’s all-encompassing approach

Global CRO ICON and UK-based pharmaceutical company Informa Pharma Intelligence have produced a report detailing the key clinical research challenges – and have worked on providing potential solutions. By identifying the major challenges industry experts are likely to encounter, and researching which areas are most likely to deliver the greatest investment and efficiency savings, this is a thorough account of how real change is being driven by digital disruption.

Changing attitudes

With R&D inefficiencies still abounding, and the financial risks (and costs) of drug development ever-increasing, it is disappointing how many pharmaceutical firms are becoming less effectual. The costs of drug sponsorships have increased by around 10 per cent each year since the early 2000s, whilst FDA approval of first-in-human drugs has yet to exceed around seven per cent. ICON has posited a framework for addressing these issues.

Leading innovation and digital transformation

As an organization with extensive experience interacting with the key challenges facing pharmaceutical firms, ICON is ideally positioned to continue implementing integrated trials beyond what the industry traditionally expects. Using individual initiatives to improve the efficiency of trials, the company has also applied learning in a coordinated and universal manner, redesigning the entire R&D function.

There is a serious lack of holistic efforts to transform R&D within the pharmaceutical industry, with only around 20 per cent of businesses having an integrated approach in place. ICON is committed to leading the way in trials, digital innovation, and R&D integration – combatting the siloing that currently stymies organizations’ attempts to maximize their potential.

Challenges and efficiency savings

Through their exploration of the current R&D landscape, assisted by ISR Research, ICON has identified the pain points and the most promising areas for savings within pharmaceutical manufacturers. Patient enrolment, site start up, and regulatory approval delays and changes are the biggest challenges currently faced by the industry, whilst protocol development is seen as the area with the best potential for efficiency savings.

These findings, among many others, highlight the growing understanding that proper returns on investments cannot be attained without serious improvements to R&D efficiency – and R&D efficiency cannot be achieved without a holistic approach to transformation.

Icon’s proposals and the future for holistic R&D

This study outlines the results of ICON’s research and details a proposed three-part framework for dealing with current industry challenges. In this report, you will learn how to leverage emergent technology, how to employ cutting-edge capabilities, and the best manner in which to overhaul your business’s approach to clinical trials – from adopting big data to artificial intelligence.

To find out more, download the full report today.

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