Quintiles, Parexel, PPD lead all CROs in US trial totals, review finds

13-Apr-2015 - Last updated on 12-Oct-2017 at 13:35 GMT

CROs (contract research organizations) continue to collaborate with sponsors on more clinical trials in the US, though the largest companies, such as Quintiles, Parexel and PPD, are working on a much larger share of the research as collaborators than their smaller peers, according to a review of the US database of trials clinicaltrials.gov.

The review, which showed slight growth across the board since the previous review conducted in August, does not offer a complete view of the tight-lipped industry, though it does show that the largest CROs continue to win the lion's share of the work.

Largest Competitors

North Carolina-based Quintiles led all CROs again as a research collaborator for 121 trials registered in the database, though the vast majority – 98 trials – were not recruiting or active, and 13 were terminated, including trials run with AstraZeneca and Abbott.

Parexel, which back in August was listed as being a part of 63 trials, is now cited as a collaborator for 79 trials, 23 of which were open and 19 of which are currently recruiting for patients. Among the new trials is a cystic fibrosis study conducted alongside Abbott.

Wilmington, NC-based PPD is third in the rankings as it’s cited in 67 studies, 18 of which are open and eight of which are still recruiting. PPD partners include GlaxoSmithKline and Shire.

Recently IPO-ed INC Research again placed fourth, with a total of 51 studies, including eight open trials and five that are still recruiting. PRA Health Sciences, which also saw its IPO come in 2014, is listed as a collaborator for 39 studies, only eight of which are open and five of those are still recruiting.

Mid-sized and Smaller CROs

Recently acquired by LabCorp -- Covance, which is known as the world’s largest provider of central labs, was cited in 35 studies, including some work with the famous Cleveland Clinic, though only five of those studies are still open and recruiting.

Synteract, Chiltern, inVentiv and Clinipace were among the smallest CROs in terms of their listings on clinicaltrials.gov.