Society for Clinical Research Sites expands relationship with PPD’s Acurian

13-Mar-2015 - Last updated on 13-Mar-2015 at 20:11 GMT

The trade organization Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS) has broadened its relationship with PPD subsidiary Acurian to initiate a Site Advocacy Group (SAG) focused on global patient recruitment.

Acurian will shift from being a Global Impact Partner with SCRS to a more robust relationship that includes the initiation of the SAG, which is a relatively new initiative SCRS began last year. The SAG will focus on patient recruitment and allow Acurian to go to a group of clinical research professionals -- SCRS members -- to collect feedback and input from the sites on their recruitment.

Todd Albin, Acurian’s senior director of site enrollment optimization, told Outsourcing-Pharma.com: “Centralized patient recruitment is still a nascent service offering outside the United States, and we are starting to see more sites struggle with patient enrollment on a global basis. Sponsors, too, are often confused about what enrollment tactics are acceptable and effective in specific geographies. Through SCRS, we are forming this European SAG to provide our insight into proven centralized enrollment processes, while at the same time being able to better assess how non-U.S. sites are equipped to work within a new construct of processing potential patients who are not part of their own practices or databases.”

Acurian joins INC Research in its efforts to initiate a SAG, though INC’s will be devoted to protocol review to enable more sites to contribute and review the development of protocols.

Purchased by PPD in 2013, Acurian was cited by an ISR research paper from last year as the industry leader in standalone patient recruitment, which should help it in its development of the recruitment SAG.

“Acurian’s fortified commitment as an SCRS Site Engagement Partner is emblematic of their commitment to affecting change for clinical research sites globally. Their support will incite important dialogue between sites and industry, and SCRS is excited to partner with them on a range of important initiatives,” Christine Pierre, SCRS President, told Outsourcing-Pharma.com.

As a Site Engagement Partner, Acurian will also continue to participate on the SCRS Global Impact Board at an executive level, and work closely with SCRS’ Leadership Council to determine strategic initiatives for SCRS.

In addition, Acurian will continue as a Global Impact Partner and sponsor of 2015 Good Business Practices and Good Clinical Practices webinars. The company will also sponsor both the 2015 SCRS Eagle Award and Site Patient Recruitment Innovation Award (SPRIA).