Advanced Clinical Trials and Clinical Research

CRO (Contract Research Organization) Clinical Trials

CRO (Contract Research Organization) is an organization that provides support to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries in the form of research services outsourced on a contract basis. Many CROs specifically provide clinical-study and clinical-trial support for drugs and/or medical devices. CROs range from large, international full-service organizations to small, niche specialty groups. A CRO may provide such services as biopharmaceutical development, biologic assay development, commercialization, preclinical research, clinical research, clinical trials management, and pharmacovigilance. CROs also support foundations, research institutions, and universities, in addition to government organizations.

Sponsorship: In the conduct of clinical trials, a sponsor is an individual (institution, company or organization) that takes the responsibility to initiate, manage or finance the clinical trial, but does not actually conduct the investigation. A sponsor-investigator, on the other hand, takes on the responsibility as a clinical study sponsor and also conducts or oversees the clinical trial. Thus, a sponsor-investigator must comply with the applicable regulatory requirements that pertain to both the sponsor and the investigator