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Optimizing the use of CROs by academia and small companies

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 12, pages 487–488 (2013)Cite this article

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Contract research organizations (CROs) have a key role in drug discovery and development, but processes for evaluating, engaging and managing CRO contracts may not be well established in academic institutions or small companies. Here, we recommend an approach to optimize the execution of drug discovery programmes in such environments.

Academic laboratories and early-stage companies contribute substantially to innovative drug research and development (R&D). However, as the full range of different kinds of expertise involved is not always available or executed optimally within such organizations, a network of contract research organizations (CROs) is typically needed to supplement in-house expertise. For many years, large pharmaceutical companies have extensively employed CROs to complement their internal programmes and capabilities, and have established approaches to optimize their use, such as preferred vendor networks and measures for evaluating, contracting and managing CROs. However, such approaches are less established in academia or early-stage companies. Here, with the aim of helping to address this issue, we provide recommendations for effective interaction with CROs in early-stage drug R&D.

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Acknowledgements

The authors of this article were participants in an advisory panel focused on generating recommendations for academic scientists and early-stage biotechnology companies when engaging and contracting CROs for preclinical drug discovery and development, convened by the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF). As part of an effort to improve access to CRO services, a database of CROs and educational resources for preclinical drug discovery and development for neurodegenerative diseases is available at: http://www.alzdiscovery.org/research-and-grants/addf-access/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rachel F. Lane, Diana W. Shineman and Howard M. Fillit are at the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, 57 W. 57th Street, New York, New York 10019, USA.,

    Rachel F. Lane, Diana W. Shineman & Howard M. Fillit

  2. Lauren G. Friedman is at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, USA.,

    Lauren G. Friedman

  3. Curtis Keith is at the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.,

    Curtis Keith

  4. Steven P. Braithwaite is at Circuit Therapeutics, Menlo Park, California 94025-1441, USA.,

    Steven P. Braithwaite

  5. Julie A. Frearson is at BioFocus, Chesterford Research Park, Saffron Walden, Essex CB10 1XL, UK.,

    Julie A. Frearson

  6. David A. Lowe is at NeuroAssets, Rue du Lac 43, CH-1800 Vevey, Switzerland.,

    David A. Lowe

  7. Frank M. Longo is at the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California 94305, USA.,

    Frank M. Longo

  8. Lorenzo M. Refolo is at the US National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.,

    Lorenzo M. Refolo

  9. D. Martin Watterson is at Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA.,

    D. Martin Watterson

  10. Katya Tsaioun is at Pharma Launcher, 9 Woodland St, Belmont, Massachusetts 02478, USA.,

    Katya Tsaioun

Authors
  1. Rachel F. Lane
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  2. Lauren G. Friedman
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  3. Curtis Keith
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  4. Steven P. Braithwaite
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  5. Julie A. Frearson
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  6. David A. Lowe
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  7. Frank M. Longo
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  8. Lorenzo M. Refolo
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  9. D. Martin Watterson
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  10. Katya Tsaioun
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  11. Diana W. Shineman
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  12. Howard M. Fillit
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Competing interests

S.P.B. is an employee of Circuit Therapeutics, Inc.; J.A.F. is an employee of BioFocus Inc.; D.A.L. is an employee of NeuroAssets Sàrl; and K.T. is a minority shareholder of Cyprotex PLC and SynDevRx.

All other authors have no competing interests.

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Cite this article

Lane, R., Friedman, L., Keith, C. et al. Optimizing the use of CROs by academia and small companies. Nat Rev Drug Discov 12, 487–488 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd4057

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